By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
The drought extended too long, jump-started the Davidson Wildcats into too good of a rhythm, for St. Bonaventure to complete a dramatic comeback Tuesday evening at the Reilly Center.
Bona did not score for the last 4:26 of the first half, watching a one-point lead evaporate to a five-point halftime deficit when Wildcats guard made two 3-pointers in 1:13. Davidson then opened the second half on a 6-0 run boosted when Bona turned the ball over four times on its first four possessions, a run that expanded to 13-2 and stretched the Wildcat lead to 47-31.
Hyunjung Lee, an Atlantic 10 Player of the Year candidate who missed eight of his nine field goal attempts in the first half, made four 3-pointers in the second half. Bona answered with a 34-22 surge to thin its deficit to three points with 10 seconds remaining, a stretch in which Davidson missed six consecutive free throws, but ultimately fell 81-76. Its record now stands 12-6, with a 4-3 Atlantic 10 mark.
“Our guys showed a lot of fight, to come back from [16] and make it a one-possession game,” Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “But it was, coming out of the locker room in the first five minutes of the second half, they played much better than us. … That was the difference.”
The Bonnies, Schmidt noted, outscored the Wildcats 34-16 in the paint area and benefited from 16 second chance points. Kyle Lofton fell just a rebound and two assists shy of a triple-double, guiding his team to a 32-30 rebounding advantage, while a decision to start pressing after the under-eight media timeout paid dividends with three late steals.
Davidson’s 12 3-pointers, coupled with Bona’s inability to match the Wildcats on the other end, often trading 3-pointers with free throws, was the glaring statistic.
“You look at the stats and we’re plus-18 in the paint; plus-six off of points off turnovers; plus-six, second chance points; plus-four, fast break points,” Schmidt remarked, glancing at the stat sheet. “So we won four of those five categories that are really important (the Bona bench was outscored 5-2, the other category in that grid), but we lose the 3-point shooting. And I thought going into the game, if we can keep them below 10, we’d have a shot.”
Lee struggled in the first half, tightly defended by Dominick Welch, but took advantage of two second half breakdowns to splash 3s on back-to-back possessions. He reached his number of 15 points, a benchmark where the Wildcats are now 11-0.
Lee’s missed free throws, compounded by Mennenga’s missed free throws, kept the door open with less than a minute left, however. Jalen Adaway, who scored over 20 points for a second straight outing, made two of his three free throws. Foster Loyer, the Michigan State transfer who benefited from a switched personal foul at 1:55 that kept him in the game with four fouls, calmly drained his two free throws and concluded his night with 21 points, including three 3-point baskets and a perfect 8-of-8 performance from the line.
The Bonnies, down five, did not convert on their offensive trip and finished with a 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) success rate from beyond the arc.
Michael Jones, one of the league’s most improved players, tallied 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, making three of his six 3-point shots. Luka Brajkovic also provided supplementary scoring, recording 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting and sinking two 3-pointers.
“They hit some big shots, some tough shots,” Schmidt assessed. “It seemed like every time we made a mistake, went under a ball screen or whatever, they hit a big one.”
So it typically goes for the Wildcats, who have won all seven of their true road games and are now the clear favorite to represent the A-10 in the NCAA Tournament. The Bonnies, run and all, dropped their second home contest of the year.
“Just have to shore up some mistakes,” Schmidt commented. “But you look at the stat sheet, and other than the 3-point shooting, I thought we did a decent job.”
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