By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
When the Atlantic 10 structures its schedule pairings each summer for the following season, many home-and-homes are often assumed splits. The nature of the Atlantic 10 lends itself to each team winning a game. The nature of college basketball lends itself to the home team winning in its friendly confines.
St. Bonaventure has debunked that logic, sweeping 17 of its 28 home-and-home series since the 2014-15 season began. It has a chance to bring out the brooms again when it hosts Duquesne at the Reilly Center on Wednesday evening.
In the last six seasons, which have seen them win at least 10 A-10 contests each go-around, the Bonnies have 17 home-and-home sweeps, six home-and-home splits and five home-and-home 0-fers. Duquesne knows the receiving end well; the Dukes have been swept the last three years and haven’t defeated Bonaventure since Jan. 16, 2016.
“It’s conference,” Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt remarked. “That’s why I tell the guys, ‘We’re not gonna win because we’re home, we’re not gonna win because we’re on the road. We’re gonna win because we play better.’ And that’s how it’s gonna be.”
If Bona earns the sweep on Wednesday it won’t be due to lack of competition. The first half of the regular season series was arguably the team’s most thrilling game of the season to this point, the margin eclipsing single-digits for a whole 13 seconds on Feb. 8.
The Dukes pushed the Bonnies to the brink that Saturday, forcing them to score the most points they had since December. They displayed stellar guard play, with sixth man Tavian Dunn-Martin’s 25 points leading all scorers and point guard Sincere Carry recording 17 points and eight assists with no turnovers.
Duquesne was resilient in that outing, overcoming a nine-point deficit with 5:33 remaining to tie the game at the 1:36 mark. A Kyle Lofton three-pointer and Dom Welch jumper were the difference, while the Dukes made just one of their last three baskets.
“They’re just like everybody else, like they have their good games and their bad games,” Dukes coach Keith Dambrot said of the Bonnies. “Who would’ve thunk it: they played really good in here offensively and then they couldn’t make a shot against Davidson. And then I watched the Richmond game and Richmond arguably could be the best shooting team in the league and Richmond had a bunch of open shots and didn’t make any.
“That’s what’s strange about this game, is it’s a shot-making league… If you don’t make shots, you’re not winning. It doesn’t matter how good a defense you play, you have to make shots.”
Since their first meeting with Bonaventure, the Dukes have gone 1-2 with a win over Fordham and losses to George Washington and Dayton. Duquesne held a 38-36 halftime lead over Dayton before allowing 44 second half points, resulting in its second consecutive defeat.
GW and Dayton combined to shoot 49.5 percent from the field and outrebound the Dukes’ typically formidable defense 68-57. Duquesne shot under 40 percent against GW and Fordham.
The Dukes also need to make three-pointers again to snap their current skid. They made 14 three-pointers against SBU but have made 18 since. Dambrot understands the inherent challenges the Bona defense presents as his group aims for a repeat performance from the perimeter.
“When you throw into the five-man, the center, they same-side double,” Dambrot explained. “What I mean by that is that they take the guy who threw it in, and they double. The reason they do that is they don’t want the big guy (Osun Osunniyi) in foul trouble. He’s good enough to play one-on-one defense in there but they don’t want foul trouble. And then if you throw into Marcus (Weathers), the big guy’s gonna double.
“They’re not really letting you score around the rim, but you still have to throw it in there in order to get 14 threes… Sometimes people say, ‘Well why’d you shoot so many threes?’ Well they played zone the whole game, they kind of make you shoot threes. That’s part of their plan, is they don’t let you score inside.”
At 8-6 in A-10 play, Duquesne and Saint Louis represent the two toughest teams Bonaventure will face to round out its regular season schedule. The Dukes are two wins away from their first 20-win season since 2008-09, while Bonaventure is two wins away from its third 20-win season in the last four years.
Schmidt and Dambrot have known each other for years and will meet for the sixth time in three seasons on Wednesday. There are very few secrets left in terms of strategy or playing style. The contest will be decided by how their players execute.
“Hopefully they’re not 14-for-34 from three,” Schmidt said. “But Dunn-Martin is a guy who can go off like that. Not that we weren’t out there, we missed some assignments. But he hit some big shots. (Baylee) Steele hit some big shots. They’re a good offensive team; they’re a good team.
“They can really score the basketball. They’ve got good big guys inside that you have to concentrate on, they’ve got good perimeter players that if you leave open they’re gonna knock them down. So I gather it’s gonna be another really good game and hopefully we can make one more basket.”
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