Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – By the time Japhet Medor’s heave for the win at the buzzer clanged off the backboard, Bonnies fans could finally exhale as St. Bonaventure held off a second half rally to score an Atlantic 10 win over Fordham, 74-72, Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
The Bonnies never trailed and led by as many as 16, but Fordham chipped away the entire second half to make things far more interesting than most in the sold-out RC would have liked.
Fordham went 5-for-10 from 3-point land in the second half and outscored the Bonnies by nine after intermission despite Bona shooting 58 percent after halftime.
Medor tallied 12 of his 18 points in the second half while Jackie Johnson III recorded 14 of his 20 during the final 20 minutes.
For the Bonnies, their big men dominated the paint enough to thwart Fordham’s rally.
Noel Brown matched his career-high with 22 points along with eight rebounds. He was active all day, drawing 12 fouls and went 8-for-12 at the charity stripe. Freshman Xander Wedlow set a new career-best with 10 points, going 5-for-5 from the floor with four boards.
Melvin Council Jr. delivered 13 points and seven assists while Lajae Jones finished with 11 points.
The Bonnies (17-6, 5-5 A-10) controlled from the start, opening the game on a 7-0 run to set the tone.
Later in the half, the Bonnies created separation by embarking on an 18-4 sprint fueled by a quick eight points off the bench from Wedlow.
Bona owned a double-digit advantage for much of the first half and enjoyed a 40-29 lead at the break.
Fordham would begin its task of chipping away from there, however, slowly closing back in during the entirety of the second half.
The Rams (10-12, 2-7) finally evened the tally for the first time since the opening points of the game following a steal and fastbreak by Johnson III for a 68-all deadlock with 2:25 remaining.
Jonah Hinton brought the packed RC crowd back to life on the next possession, though, draining a nothing-but-net deep trey to pull back in front.
Jones followed with a steal on the defensive end, leading to a layup from Chance Moore and a bit of breathing room.
A put-back dunk from Romad Dean with just over four seconds left brought the Rams back within one and, after Jones made the front end of the 1 and 1 but missed the second, Medor’s effort at the win came up short.
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