NEW YORK – Less than a handful of Division I basketball teams, St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt often notes, end the season with a victory: the champions of the NCAA Tournament, National Invitation Tournament, College Basketball Invitational and The Basketball Classic.
On Tuesday night, Bona joined the ranks of the overwhelming majority who experience a bittersweet conclusion.
The Bonnies’ final halftime deficit of the season, a 38-23 disadvantage after they missed 70 percent of their shots and were outdone by NIT semifinal opponent Xavier in the rebounding category, proved too arduous to overcome. They rallied over the final 20 minutes, as was customary for them this year, and posted 54 points. It wasn’t enough to escape a timely, hot-shooting Musketeers unit.
Xavier prevailed 84-77 at Madison Square Garden, overcoming a 10-2 push that cut its lead to five with 5:38 remaining. That was the closest Bonaventure, sent home with a 23-10 final record, came to tying the contest.
“If you were in those huddles,” Schmidt divulged, “there was never any panic. At halftime, there wasn’t any panic. It’s just like, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta play harder. We’ve gotta play more together.’”
Bona made just nine of its 30 field goal attempts in the first half, a 30 percent clip, and was outrebounded 26-16. The Musketeers parlayed their 10 offensive rebounds into an 11-0 second chance point advantage, doubling SBU up 28-14 before the third media timeout. Jack Nunge grabbed six of those offensive boards and recorded nine points in 10 minutes.
The only Bonnies to produce more than one basket in the first half were Dominick Welch, who splashed three 3-pointers, and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, who registered six points in nine minutes.
“I think it was moreso second chance points,” Kyle Lofton assessed regarding how Xavier seized its early lead. “That’s what hurt us, in the paint. … I think we stopped the first shot, but then they got rebound after rebound. It was one play, they got three in a row and then (Nunge) got a layup. Really, just not rebounding really hurt us in the first half.”
“I think our offense really affected our defense in the first half,” Schmidt remarked. “We sat down at halftime and talked, what we needed to do, and I think our guys came out and we played much better in the second half… we didn’t give up.
“The toughness of our guys, mentally and physically, was really impressive.”
The Bonnies matched Xavier 12-12 on the glass and 22-22 in the paint in the second half, the seniors visibly resolute in ensuing they did not potentially end their collegiate careers in blowout fashion. Lofton, Welch, Jaren Holmes and Osun Osunniyi combined to score 52 second-half points on 19-of-27 shooting.
Holmes swiped three steals in the second stanza, converting them into five points off turnovers. Osunniyi scored 10 of his 12 points in the period after not making a field goal in the first. Lofton not only registered 13 points down the stretch, he dished eight assists. The point guard finished with 15 points and 11 assists, his sixth career double-double.
Welch, meanwhile, poured in 16 second-half points to lead all scorers with 25. The Buffalo native set a career high in scoring and matched his high 3-point mark, drilling seven of his 10 attempts from beyond the arc.
To further illustrate the toll Bona’s rebounding woes had on its result, Tuesday marked just the second time the program has lost when an individual player makes seven 3-pointers in the last 12 such occurrences. For Welch personally, however, it was a night he won’t soon forget.
“This is pretty much a dream come true for me today,” Welch acknowledged. “Just playing at MSG, really the Mecca of basketball. But I just go out there and play the game, try to run whatever Coach Schmidt calls and just try to flow with the offense. The ball was coming to me, I was feeling good and I was knocking shots down tonight.”
Welch wasn’t the only one confident in his jumper. Musketeers guard Adam Kunkel cemented himself as a temporary Bona villain by notching 18 points, including a dagger of a 3-pointer to extend Xavier’s lead to 70-61 with 4:34 remaining.
Five of Kunkel’s seven field goals occurred directly after Bona scored on the previous possession. He shared the Musketeers’ scoring lead with big men Nunge and Zach Freemantle, who missed just two of his 10 field goal tries.
Xavier, which saw an improbable NIT run continue after the firing of head coach Travis Steele and the loss of point guard Paul Scruggs to injury, closed the game out by sinking five of its last six free throws and breaking two SBU full-court presses for easy baskets.
Lofton garnered a standing ovation from the pro-Bona crowd upon fouling out with 12.8 seconds left, hugging each coach and teammate on the way to his seat. The fans chanted his name and then rose once more to cheer the entire team after the final buzzer. Though they were disappointed in the result, it was a fitting sendoff for a decorated senior class.
“These five seniors don’t have to hold their heads down,” Schmidt said. “It’s disappointing that we lost but I’m not disappointed in our effort, or what these guys have done.”
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