By PAUL GOTHAM
Less than two minutes remained in Saturday’s Atlantic 10 showdown at Saint Bonaventure’s Reilly Center, and the Bonnies’ once-comfortable 15-point advantage had dwindled to six. George Washington’s leading scorer Tyler Cavanaugh pulled down an offensive rebound and used a head fake in the lane, but the 6-9 forward made the slightest of errors: he dropped the ball below his waist.
In that instant Bona’s Jaylen Adams slipped in from behind and stripped the ball from his opponent. The 6-2 point guard pivoted, looked up the floor and found teammate Idris Taqqee with a diagonal pass.
Threat extinguished.
Adams, who led St. Bonaventure on the offensive end throughout the second half, also made a crucial defensive play his team needed to stop the opponent’s momentum.
“Nothing really surprises me,” St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said when asked about the play of the sophomore. “You see it all the time in practice how calm and collected he is when he plays.”
Adams connected on all seven of his shot attempts in the second half including three behind the arc. He was also part of a defensive effort which limited GW to 3-of-10 shooting from long range in the second half and 21-of-59 from the floor for the game.
“He has a really good feel for the game,” Schmidt noted. “He has great instincts. He has great feet. He can really guard. He’s smart.”
That Adams impacted Saturday’s contest as much as he did was the result of the trust he has earned from Schmidt.
Just 2:01 into the game, Adams picked up his second foul. The sophomore point guard returned later and played 11 minutes in the half before heading into the locker room.
“I’m the type of coach where you have two fouls you usually sit the whole half,” Schmidt said during the Atlantic 10’s weekly tele-conference. “I have a lot of confidence in him and making the right plays. We wouldn’t be where we are without his play.”
Adams leads the A-10 and is 10th in the nation hitting 46 percent (63-for-137) from long range. His 18.2 points a game are sixth in the conference while his five assists per contest rank second.
“I think he’s going to get better and better,” Schmidt added. “He’s going to get stronger. His skills are going to get better. His feel for the game has always been there. I think the game is slowing down a little bit more for him. He’s really leading us.”
Bona (17-6/9-3), winners of five straight, sit in fourth place with a two game lead over George Washington with six regular season games remaining. The Bonnies take on La Salle (5-18/1-11), Wednesday night.
“They don’t have a great record, but the one thing they do? They’re still playing hard. You watch tape of them and they don’t hang their head.
“When they shoot the ball well from their perimeter, they’re a good team. They’ve been snake-bitten a little bit.”
A 7 p.m. tip off is scheduled from Philadelphia. The game can be watched on the internet live here.
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