By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Osun Osunniyi was clearly St. Bonaventure’s best player in Saturday afternoon’s game at Middle Tennessee, but for a moment it looked like it wouldn’t matter.
The Bonnies were already down five points when Osunniyi missed a dunk with 1:45 remaining, and all the Blue Raiders had to do was grab the rebound to diminish Bona’s chances.
Instead, the orange passed by multiple MTSU defenders, all the way to Jaren English near the three-point arc. English got the offensive board, drove the right lane and made a layup and drew a foul. He converted the three-point play and Bona had life.
SBU took full advantage of the momentum swing, earning a notable defensive stop and hitting some clutch shots to come back and win their seventh straight game, 66-65.
Takeaways from Mark Schmidt’s 300th career coaching victory:
Player of the Game: Osun Osunniyi, St. Bonaventure. Osunniyi is a stat sheet stuffer by any definition. He scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds (both tied for season highs) along with five blocks, two steals and two assists. He also logged 37 minutes, the most he has all season.
Honorable mention: Four other Bonnies scored in double figures: Kyle Lofton (14), Bobby Planutis (10), Alejandro Vasquez (10), Dominick Welch (10). C.J. Jones scored 26 points for Middle Tennessee.
Stat of the Game: Bona held an 18-12 rebounding advantage in the second half, with seven offensive rebounds. Twelve of its 39 second-half points were second-chance buckets.
Stretch of the Game: The Bonnies trailed 65-62 with 30 seconds left when Lofton made a layup to cut the deficit to one. On the ensuing inbound, they trapped Antonio Green and Planutis forced a jump ball, with the possession arrow favoring Bona. After a timeout, Welch drilled the go-ahead jumper with 10 seconds left.
The Blue Raiders got a good look on their last possession (“We didn’t guard it very well,” Schmidt told WPIG after), but Green’s three-pointer caught back iron and refused to fall. Osunniyi grabbed the rebound and threw a pass ahead to English, who dribbled out the clock as SBU escaped with the win.
Quote of the Game: “We’re still a work in progress; we’ve got a long way to go,” Schmidt told Gary Nease on WPIG postgame. “Some of the inexperience shows in some of the shot selection that we take. But in the end, to beat a team like Middle Tennessee is a credit to our guys…
“They had a whole week off to prepare and we had the game against Niagara, so our guys did a good job in preparation. We’re getting better.”
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