Brown leads all scorers as Bonnies breeze through exhibition

By CHUCKIE MAGGIO

Osun Osunniyi didn’t hesitate to hit the floor in a scrimmage. St. Bonaventure’s 6-foot-10 reigning Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year wouldn’t even allow his associate head coach’s son to crash the lane without tacking on an offensive foul.

Osunniyi’s unofficial first charge of the season came 14:42 into Thursday’s exhibition game, a foul incurred by Casey Curran during Bona’s 19-0 first-half run. Alfred University is a Division III opponent, but Osunniyi nonetheless imposed his will with 12 points in 13 minutes.

The Bonnies breezed through their dress rehearsal, defeating Alfred 95-54 in front of 2,622 fans at Reilly Center.

“There were some good things that we did, some bad things that we did, which is good,” Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt commented. “The guys, the young guys, had some positives; they can get some confidence from that.”

SBU’s new players impressed with starters Kyle Lofton (bone bruise) and Jalen Adaway (ankle) sidelined for precautionary reasons.

Linton Brown, who transferred to Bona from Indian River State College, led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-12 field-goal shooting, including three 3-pointers.

“He hasn’t been shooting the ball well in practice,” Schmidt said, “but he’s been putting in the time, and hopefully this shows if you put in the time, you’re gonna have success and you gain confidence from this game. We need him to put the ball in the basket. … He has eight rebounds, two offensive rebounds, and that’s much better than he did in the Kent State scrimmage. He’s made some improvements and we need him to continue making some improvements.”

Wake Forest transfer Quadry Adams added 13 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals, while Pittsburgh transfer Abdoul Karim Coulibaly contributed 11 points and seven rebounds.

“Some guys are a little bit further ahead than other guys,” Schmidt assessed. “When you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re really unsure what you’re doing, it’s hard to play this game no matter if you’re playing against Division I athletes or Division III guys. If you’re unsure, it’s really difficult to be successful. But I think the young guys, they’re coming. They’re getting better; they’re getting more comfortable. And this is what the game was all about: getting those guys in uniform, getting comfortable. We’re finding out where they’re at but more importantly, they’re finding out where they’re at, and what they need to work on and so forth.”

Returnee Jaren Holmes handled the primary point guard duties in his 25 minutes, scoring 11 points and dishing five assists. Returnee Dominick Welch tallied 10 points, including two 3s, in 22 minutes.

The Bonnies didn’t need considerable help from any one player. They controlled the glass, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds. The offense also shot 60.6 percent (40-of-66) from the floor, notching 60 of its 95 points in the paint. Anouar Mellouk was the only participant who did not score a point, as freshman Justin Ndjock-Tadjore recorded eight points, Joryam Saizonou chipped in seven and walk-on Pedro Rossi also scored a basket.

“It’s a game where we want to win, but we want to play everybody,” Schmidt explained. “This was a game where we wanted to play a lot of the new guys. … Get their feet wet, get them comfortable playing under the lights in the Reilly Center.”

Alfred held its own, leading for 3:32 in the opening stages. Schmidt’s son Mike scored 10 points and added three assists, leading his father to say he “got into the paint a little too much, especially early on.” Kenneth Allison Jr. led the Saxons with 11 points off the bench.

The Bonnies led Alfred 50-28 at halftime, finishing the period on a 25-9 run. Bona only made 46.7 percent (35-of-75) of its field goals in the 2019 exhibition game, sinking five more field goals during this year’s contest.

“As the game went along we did a better job of keeping them out of the paint, did a pretty good job rebounding, and we should; we’re a Division I school and they’re a Division III school,” Schmidt acknowledged.

Bona now looks forward to the season opener, a Franciscan Cup rivalry matchup.

“As you guys know, the exhibition game doesn’t count,” Schmidt said. “It’s on, on Tuesday against Siena.”