By ERIN MAGGIO
ST. BONAVENTURE — St. Bonaventure’s Atlantic 10 regular season finale against Saint Louis was the last game in the Reilly Center for three Bonnies: Courtney Stockard, LaDarien Griffin and Nelson Kaputo, and they sure showed up to play.
Stockard and Griffin, especially, proved themselves as leaders for this young team. Although their careers as Bonnies started much quieter, as Stockard suffered two foot injuries in his first two years and Griffin scored just six points in his whole freshman season, they developed into standouts.
All three seniors started the game and Kaputo and Stockard started strong. Kaputo had a rebound and steal early on, while Stockard, in just over two minutes, compiled a steal, an assist, and a block for the Bonnies. Stockard ended the half with nine points.
Overall, however, the first half was less than stellar for the Bonnies. Griffin had no points, the team had 10 turnovers, Saint Louis outrebounded them 26-12, and they went into the half down 27-22.
In the second half, though, with the help of underclassman Kyle Lofton, Dominick Welch, and Osun Osunniyi, Stockard and Griffin took charge and helped swing the Bonnies into some momentum, and eventually, the win.
“I just wanted to come out and just be aggressive, try to get easy baskets,” Griffin said. “The guys were encouraging me just to keep going at it and seeing that first one fall kinda just felt like I could start knocking more shots down.” Once he knocked down his first shot at the 14:54 mark, he ended up knocking down eight more.
The real swing in the game was from Stockard, who scored eight points in a row to swing the game from a tight 47-45 Bonaventure lead to a 54-47 lead. This run in the latter part of the second half helped the Bonnies pull into a lead that Saint Louis could never catch. After that run, just 3:48 remained and in those few last minutes of the seniors’ regular season careers, Stockard and Griffin put on a show to finish it out. Griffin had two definitive dunks, one that followed a huge Stockard steal. Stockard also added two assists, a rebound, and two made free throws to close out the game as the Bonnies won 66-57.
Coach Mark Schmidt, on their performance, said, “You’re gonna look back 10, 15, 30 years from now and always remember that game, and these two guys, especially in the second half, really took over the game… couldn’t be prouder. You’re only as good as your seniors.”
With the strong second half from his seniors, Schmidt’s team was strong as well. Both Stockard and Griffin played all 40 minutes of their senior game and both ended in double-digit scoring, Stockard with 20 points and Griffin with 10. Stockard also added seven assists and the two combined for 10 rebounds. The three seniors, along with their underclassmen, hope to continue their winning ways in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in Brooklyn this coming week.
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