By PAUL GOTHAM
A cause and effect relationship tipped the scales as the St. Bonaventure Bonnies defeated the Duquesne Dukes, 80-76 in Atlantic 10 action Wednesday night at the Reilly Center.
Jaylen Adams scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half including a pair of pivotal 3-pointers as Bona rallied from eight down in the second half to win for the seventh time in the last eight games.
After failing to connect from behind the three-point arc in his first five attempts, Adams drilled back-to-back triples coming out of a timeout with 8:29 left in the game.
“He didn’t play great in the first half, but I thought he was always under control,” Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said. “He made shots when we needed to make shots. He’s been doing that all year.”
Duquesne coach Jim Ferry called the shots “daggers” as Adams capitalized when the Dukes were forced to changed defenses.
“That was all predicated on us not being able to keep them out the lane and having to get a change up,” Ferry explained. “They were getting in the lane, and it was foul shot after foul shot. We went zone and tried not to foul. That happens.”
Adams connected from the top of the key, and Marcus Posley found him in the right corner for a catch-and-shoot trey to pull Bona even for the first time in the second half at 65-65.
“I was missing a lot of shots, but I think that the way they were playing me they were still kinda leaving me a little bit just because I was missing,” Adams said. “The guys told me to keep shooting it.”
The A-10 leader in 3-point shooting percentage connected on five of nine attempts when Bona defeated then No. 15/13 Dayton this past Saturday including the eventual game winner from long range with 36 seconds remaining.
“The more you’re in a situation, and the more you have success in that situation, the more comfortable and confident you’re going to be when it comes up again,” Schmidt commented. “He’s always under control. He gives our guys, our players, his teammates great courage.”
Against Duquesne he hit 5-of-12 from the floor for the night.
“The kid with the least amount of experience is the one who took over,” Ferry said comparing Adams to his senior teammates Posley and Dion Wright. “I thought he was tremendous. That’s why we had to go zone for a couple of possessions to try to keep him out of the lane and then he hit two threes.”
Duquesne returned to man-to-man defense, but it was too late. The damage was done.
Posley drilled a three in transition for a 72-69 edge with 3:29 remaining. Bona did not trail again.
“We have good players,” Schmidt said. “We have tough players. We have mentally tough players and guys that have been there before. Once you’ve been there been there before, and you’ve had success, it’s easier. Our guys, they found a way.”
Adams converted four free throws in the final two minutes while Wright hit three of four to seal the victory.
A big part of finding a way came on the defensive end where the Bonnies limited Duquesne’s Derrick Colter and Micah Mason.
“You always have to stop the knowns,” Schmidt noted. “Colter and Mason are two of the better guards in this league. We thought Mason was playing the best of anybody in the league in the last five games. He’s averaging 24 points. That was the key. We couldn’t let him get off.”
Mason led six different Dukes in double figures, but the Bonnies held the senior guard to the fewest points in his last six games. Mason and Colter combined for 50 points when Duquesne beat the Bonnies, 95-88 on January 16. The two were held to 29, Wednesday.
“We did a heckuva job. From a defensive standpoint that was one of the keys going into the game and one of the reasons we won. We did a good job on those two guys because they’re really, really talented.”
Posley, who came in averaging more than 18 and finished with 11 points, drew the task of covering Mason in the first half. The Bona guard held his counterpart to three points on 1-of-8 shooting and one assist.
“From a defensive standpoint he gave great effort,” Schmidt said of Posley. “He’s not shooting the ball. He’s a little bit banged up, but he hit that big three to tie the game. We’re better with him out on the court even though he may be playing at 80 percent. I thought his effort was great. He really went out there and played hard. His offense will come.”
The Bonnies also limited the damages. Duquesne grabbed a stunning 14 offensive rebounds in the first half, but the Dukes managed just eight second-chance points going into the locker room as compared to seven for Bona on six offensive caroms.
“They got a ton in the first half, and they only had eight second-chance points,” Schmidt noted. “You can get as many offensive rebounds as you want, but you got to put them back in. We got lucky.”
Bona outrebounded Duquesne 21-20 in the second half.
Wright led Bona with eight rebounds. The senior forward added 15 points.
Redshirt freshman Jordan Tyson came off the bench and scored eight points while grabbing seven rebounds for the brown and white.
Denzel Gregg added 11.
Eric James scored 15 for Duquesne.
Colter handed out a game-high six assists without a turnover.
Bona forced 15 Duquesne turnovers, at the same time the Bonnies committed just seven mishandles – only one in the second half.
With the win, Bona improves 19-7 and 11-4 in the Atlantic 10. The 11 conference victories matches a program-high.
The Bonnies host UMass on Saturday. A 4 p.m. tip off is scheduled.
Duquesne (15-13/5-10) hosts Richmond on Saturday. A 6 p.m. tip is slated.
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