By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
PITTSBURGH — Osun Osunniyi’s teammates often remark that the reigning Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year masks a fair share of their mistakes.
That sentiment may never have rang truer than it did on Friday night, when Osunniyi muscled St. Bonaventure to a victory at Duquesne.
Osunniyi set season highs with 21 points and 17 rebounds, also swatting six shots, as the Bonnies seized a 23-7 lead 12 minutes into the game and held on for a 64-56 victory at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. Of those 17 boards, Osunniyi hauled in a career-high 13 offensive rebounds and converted six of them into second chance baskets.
The setting was brand new, the arena less than a year old, but Osunniyi cleaned the glass much like he did at Duquesne’s Palumbo Center in his 22-rebound performance as a freshman. The Bonnies continued to miss 3-point shots, off on their first eight, but they had an undeniable edge on the boards as the senior got the best of talented Dukes big man Tre Williams, who recorded a double-double of his own.
“A lot of times, when the five-man goes over and tries to block a shot, he’s always taught to go opposite, and that’s when you can get a lot of offensive rebounds,” Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt explained. “Having 21 and (six), thirteen offensive rebounds, speaks for itself.”
“This game,” Osunniyi said, “was just all about bouncing back and playing with energy and committed on defense.”
The Bonnies started the game with a suffocating defensive effort, holding Duquesne to 8-of-29 shooting (27.6 percent) in the first half and outscoring Keith Dambrot’s team 44-24 in the paint. Bona ripped off a 23-5 run after allowing the first basket of the game, forcing six Duquesne turnovers as five Bonnies- including backup big man Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, who showed off an impressive spin move- scored baskets.
Bona scored 13 points off eight Dukes turnovers in the first half, holding a 33-22 halftime lead despite point guard Kyle Lofton being held scoreless.
“You want to play ahead when you’re on the road, and I thought our guys came out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, had a sense of urgency and played well, especially defensively,” Schmidt assessed. “We didn’t play great offensively in the first half, 0-for-6 from 3s, and we had an opportunity to push that lead up much higher than 11. But our defense, as I always say, has to be the staple. It certainly was tonight.”
The defense continued to be the staple as Bona weathered an anticipated Duquesne run in the second half. SBU is accustomed to being the better team out of halftime, charging to make up for lost time in the first half, but the Dukes reversed that role and outscored Bona 21-13 to cut the margin to just three points with 9:52 remaining. What looked in the first half like a bubbling Bonaventure rout turned quickly into the close games the rivalry series is accustomed to.
Bona answered with an 11-5 run that started with Osunniyi putting back a missed Jalen Adaway layup with an emphatic slam dunk. Adaway and Lofton hit back-to-back threes on Bonaventure’s following possessions, the team’s first makes from beyond the arc all game, to stretch the lead back to 11. Jaren Holmes ended five unanswered Duquesne points with a three-pointer of his own, giving SBU a nine-point cushion with 5:43 remaining.
Adaway and Holmes combined for 17 second half points, while Lofton and Osunniyi connected on an alley-oop for the game’s exclamation point. While Lofton was not sharp, missing six of his seven field goal attempts, the Bonnies shot 50 percent (13-of-26) in the second half and recorded six team assists to just five turnovers.
“You knew they were gonna make the run,” Schmidt noted. “We didn’t get off to a good start in the second half; we gave them some life. But we executed when we needed to execute. Jaren hit a big 3, Jalen hit a big 3 in the corner. We had a great executed out of bounds play for a layup, and then the last play where Kyle curled and threw the lob to ‘Shoon, so we executed under pressure which is good to see.”
The Bonnies improved to 11-4 overall and three for their first four in Atlantic 10 play.
Four Dukes accounted for each of their 56 points, with Primo Spears leading them with 18 points. Bona’s much-maligned defense has now held its opponents under 60 points in two of the last three games.
It helps when you have an eraser in the form of Osunniyi as the last line of defense- or offense.
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