Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
CLEVELAND – As the clock ticked down under 10 seconds, Mika Adams-Woods fought through traffic, heaving up a fall-away prayer.
Down by a point, it seemed as though the Bonnies might be headed for a heartbreaking defeat after controlling much of Saturday’s non-conference finale vs. Akron in the Legends Showcase at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Adams-Woods thought as much as the ball left his hands.
“I don’t know how I made it,” he said with a well-earned sigh of relief afterward.
Indeed, the prayer was answered as his shot fell through the bottom of the net, pushing the Bonnies ahead by one with eight seconds left.
A defensive stop later and the Bonnies had their most dramatic win of the season so far, 62-61, over the Mid-American Conference preseason favorite.
“It was a tough basket,” Adams-Woods said of the game-winner. “I saw the lane open up as Chad drove. I just went up confident and it went in from there.”
Chad Venning led the Bonnies with 14 points and three blocks while Adams-Woods delivered nine points. Moses Flowers posted nine off the bench while Charles Pride had an effort of five points and 10 boards. Barry Evans brought key bench minutes, finishing with four points and 10 rebounds.
“We didn’t execute great, but we made the tough plays at the end,” head coach Mark Schmidt said.
Saturday’s win came in stark contrast to other recent Bona triumphs – the squad had tallied 89 or more points in four of the last six games.
On this day, the Bonnies won with grit.
“We didn’t execute great, but you’re not going to score 85 points every time,” Schmidt said. “You have to win games like this. As I told the guys in the locker room, this was like preparing for an Atlantic 10 game. You have to find a way to win those games. And we did that today.”
With the win, the Bonnies finish the non-conference portion of the schedule at 9-3.
The teams exchanged runs during the first half.
St. Bonaventure started hot, opening up a double-digit lead during the first 12 minutes while holding Akron without points over a nearly four-minute span.
Akron (8-4) roared back to move ahead late in the half, though the Bonnies went to intermission ahead, 32-26.
Back-to-back Zips three-pointers from double-double machine Enrique Freeman and Nate Johnson tied the game with 16:45 left, and a Johnson free throw put Akron in front four minutes into the period.
After exchanging blows, St. Bonaventure began to establish control again on a traditional three-point play by Pride followed by Noel Brown cleaning up the boards for the first of consecutive buckets.
A steal and slam by Venning emphatically moved the Bonnies ahead, 57-50, with five minutes to play.
Akron responded by scoring seven of the next nine points to close within 59-57 with 2:23 to go.
The Zips completed the comeback on Shammah Scott’s free throws for a one-point lead with 25 seconds showing on the clock to set up the heroics from Adams-Woods.
Freeman, one of the top mid-major players in the country thus far on the year, scored 14 points and totaled 13 rebounds. Ali Ali delivered a game-high 20 points for Akron.
Despite the presence of Freeman inside, the Bonnies owned a 32-18 advantage in the paint. On the glass, the Bonnies out-rebounded the Zips, 39-32.
“I’m an old-school guy,” Schmidt said. “I believe basketball is won in the paint. We got 15 more shots than them. I thought Barry and Charles played extremely well. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but we got to the offensive glass. Chad got tough buckets inside and that’s what we needed.”
The Bonnies open up Atlantic 10 play with a trip to VCU Wednesday, Jan. 3. Tip time from Richmond is slated for 9 p.m., nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
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