Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
St. Bonaventure’s win streak is over, but it wasn’t without a heck of a fight. Denzel Ingram made a fadeaway, 18-foot jumper from the baseline with two seconds left gave UNC Wilmington an 81-80 win at St. Bonaventure on Saturday.
After trailing almost the entire game, Jaylen Adams’ three-point play had given the Bonnies an 80-79 lead with 14.2 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Ingram eventually took the ball down the left wing while closely guarded by Idris Taqqee. Ingram’s shot was perfect and a last-second attempt by Adams was too late.
The Bonnies (6-3) saw their five-game win streak snapped and lost at home for the first time this season. The Seahawks, who were picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association, moved to 8-1 with their fifth win in a row.
Jaylen Adams led St. Bonaventure with 18 points. Matt Mobley finished with 17 and David Andoh had 15. Denzel Gregg had nine points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. Ingram led all scorers with 19 points.
How It Happened:
UNC Wilmington started strong, taking a 15-8 lead just under eight minutes into the game.
The Seahawks were able to maintain a lead throughout the first half on the strength of three-point shooting. They made eight of 16 from long range in the first half.
The Bonnies fell behind by as many as nine points in the first half, a 28-19 margin at the 8:02 mark.
David Andoh’s three-pointer with 1:06 left in the first half pulled the Bonnies within 34-33, but Chris Flemmings answered with a three-pointer of his own for UNCW.
Andoh’s jumper made it 37-35, but UNC Wilmington’s Ingram perhaps foretold of things to come when he made a three-pointer as the first half buzzer sounded to give the Seahawks a 40-35 lead at halftime.
UNC-Wilmington scored the first five points of the second half to go ahead 45-35.
From there, the Bonnies could not come any closer than four points through the second half. Seemingly every time they threatened, UNC Wilmington had an answer to maintain its lead steady between five and nine points.
It was a 73-65 margin with 5:08 left when Matt Mobley made a three-pointer.
Adams made a three-pointer at the 3:52 mark that pulled St. Bonaventure within 73-71.
UNC Wilmington went back up by five points, but a jumper by Andoh and, later, two free throws by Adams made it a one-point game, 76-75, with 2:25 left to play.
Ingram swished his fifth three-pointer of the game with 1:57 left, but Denzel Gregg’s dunk pulled the Bonnies within two at 79-77.
Gregg blocked Devontae Cacock and the Bonnies got the ball back with 1:00 left.
The Bonnies turned the ball over, but Gregg again erased the threat, blocking a shot by Ingram with :30 left. That set up the final two possessions.
As coach Mark Schmidt pointed out, three-point shooting was one of the deciding factors in a game between two very strong teams. UNC Wilmington was 13-29 (.448) from three-point range while the Bonnies were 6-15.
St. Bonaventure outrebounded UNCW 40-33 with Gregg leading the way with 12 boards.
Quotes From Bonnies Coach Mark Schmidt:
“It was a good college basketball game. It came down to the last shot and give [Wilmington] credit. [Denel Ingram] hit a great shot. I thought we did whatever we could have to defend it. We were right there and give him credit.”
“If you look at our stats, every stat is in our favor except for the three-point shooting. We lose that by 21 and in essence that is the game. We did a decent job after the first couple minutes of taking care of the basketball. We outscore them from the foul line but they did a great job of knocking down threes, especially in the first half. Some of them were contested, some of them were breakdowns, but that was, if you look at the game, the difference.”
On the game-winning shot: “Just like every possession in the game, you want to make him take contested jump shots from the first possession to the last and he took a contested jump shot and he made it. All the credit goes to him. He made a great shot.”
Beyond The Boxscore:
St. Bonaventure led for just 4:34.
The Bonnies’ 50 percent shooting overall was their third-best shooting game of the season, as was their +7 rebound margin.
St. Bonaventure attempted a season-low 15 three-pointers.
Denzel Gregg’s 12 rebounds are a season high and three short of his career best. He now has four games of double-figure rebounds this year.
David Andoh continued his scoring streak, now with four straight games in double figures. His 15 points are his best in a Bona uniform.
Amadi Ikpeze set a season high with eight points.
Attendance for the final game with students on campus prior to semester break was 3,976.
Up Next: St. Bonaventure is off for final exams until next Saturday, Dec. 17, when the Bonnies travel to Buffalo for the Big 4 Classic, where they will face Niagara at 1 p.m. at Key Bank Center.
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