Wednesday, November 22
St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
2-5,0-0Patriot
61
at
67
St. Bonaventure
3-2,0-0Atlantic 10
1
2
F
Bucknell
26
35
61
St. Bonaventure
32
35
67
Bison Drop Hard-Fought 67-61 Decision at St. Bonaventure
11/22/2023 9:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Mika Adams-Woods scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and hit two 3-pointers in St. Bonaventure's lone extended run of the night, leading the host Bonnies to a 67-61 win over Bucknell on Wednesday night at the Reilly Center. Jack Forrest scored a game-high 18 points, Ian Motta tallied a season-high 12, and Josh Bascoe had his third eight-assist game of the season for the Bison.
St. Bonaventure features the nation's most experienced team with five fifth-year seniors and an average college tenure of 3.6 years per player. The Bonnies defeated Oklahoma State last week and are now 3-2 on the season, while Bucknell's young squad fell to 2-5 after a busy pre-Thanksgiving stretch.
The Bison defended very well for most of the night, holding St. Bonaventure to 41.1-percent shooting. But the Bonnies hit 10 of their 23 field goals from 3-point range after entering the night hitting just 25.5 percent from the arc on the season. Moses Flowers, who was 3-for-9 and had only 14 points on the campaign, was 4-for-6 in this one and scored 16 points off the bench.
"Defensively, we are becoming more connected every day, and we're starting to develop some confidence in what we're doing," said head coach John Griffin III. "We want to have an identity as a tough defensive team, and we're building that every day."
Bucknell was outstanding defensively at the start of both halves but just could not parlay long strings of defensive stops into any extended scoring runs.
Down 32-26 at halftime, Bucknell held St. Bonaventure to only three field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza. A backdoor cut by Forrest and a 3-pointer by Motta cut the gap to two at 41-39, but then the Bonnies got hot.
Adams-Woods and Daryl Banks III hit back-to-back deep threes, and Chad Venning followed with a layup for a 10-0 run in just 62 seconds. Forrest momentarily stemmed the tide with a right-corner three, but Adams-Woods hit another one from downtown followed by a Venning bucket, and St. Bonaventure had a 54-42 lead with 7:00 to go.
The Bison got it within six at 56-50 on a Ruot Bijiek 3-pointer with 3:37 left, but Adams-Woods got a spinning shot in the lane to drop and Flowers followed with a second-chance 3-pointer to make it 61-50 with 1:56 left.
Bucknell took advantage of a missed front end of a 1-and-1 to pull within four on a Noah Williamson 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining, but Adams-Woods went 4-for-4 at the line to seal it.
"I'm really proud of our group," said Griffin. "We played really hard against the oldest team in the country, and we've got a group that is getting better every day and really just getting started as a collective unit. We have to figure out how to score more points. It's not selfishness or anything like that, but it's more about spacing and screening better. We had some great possessions in the second half, but we need to do it more consistently. We are playing in some really tough road venues, and the Reilly Center is one of the toughest. But we love it. It's making us better."
Bucknell started the game with eight straight defensive stops, but the Bison could only manage a Forrest 3-pointer in their first eight trips for a 3-0 lead. After a free throw got the Bonnies on the board, Pip Ajayi set a bone-rattling screen in the backcourt and then ran to the rim, where he finished a Brandon McCreesh feed for an and-1 layup and a 6-1 lead.
St. Bonaventure finally scored from the field at the 13:23 mark on a short jumper by Barry Evans, and the Bonnies would go on to finish the half 11-for-20 after frosty start.
The Bison trailed by as many as eight in the first half at 32-24, but Motta beat the shot clock buzzer with a layup with 1:16 left, and two straight defensive stops left it a six-point margin at the break.
Bucknell shot 43.5 percent on the night after hitting at a 50-percent clip in the second half. The Bison went 9-for-24 from the arc and 12-for-15 from the foul line. St. Bonaventure finished with a 31-24 edge on the glass, with 11 of its boards coming at the offensive end.
The Bison return to action on Saturday at Marist at 4 p.m.
St. Bonaventure features the nation's most experienced team with five fifth-year seniors and an average college tenure of 3.6 years per player. The Bonnies defeated Oklahoma State last week and are now 3-2 on the season, while Bucknell's young squad fell to 2-5 after a busy pre-Thanksgiving stretch.
The Bison defended very well for most of the night, holding St. Bonaventure to 41.1-percent shooting. But the Bonnies hit 10 of their 23 field goals from 3-point range after entering the night hitting just 25.5 percent from the arc on the season. Moses Flowers, who was 3-for-9 and had only 14 points on the campaign, was 4-for-6 in this one and scored 16 points off the bench.
"Defensively, we are becoming more connected every day, and we're starting to develop some confidence in what we're doing," said head coach John Griffin III. "We want to have an identity as a tough defensive team, and we're building that every day."
Bucknell was outstanding defensively at the start of both halves but just could not parlay long strings of defensive stops into any extended scoring runs.
Down 32-26 at halftime, Bucknell held St. Bonaventure to only three field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza. A backdoor cut by Forrest and a 3-pointer by Motta cut the gap to two at 41-39, but then the Bonnies got hot.
Adams-Woods and Daryl Banks III hit back-to-back deep threes, and Chad Venning followed with a layup for a 10-0 run in just 62 seconds. Forrest momentarily stemmed the tide with a right-corner three, but Adams-Woods hit another one from downtown followed by a Venning bucket, and St. Bonaventure had a 54-42 lead with 7:00 to go.
The Bison got it within six at 56-50 on a Ruot Bijiek 3-pointer with 3:37 left, but Adams-Woods got a spinning shot in the lane to drop and Flowers followed with a second-chance 3-pointer to make it 61-50 with 1:56 left.
Bucknell took advantage of a missed front end of a 1-and-1 to pull within four on a Noah Williamson 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining, but Adams-Woods went 4-for-4 at the line to seal it.
"I'm really proud of our group," said Griffin. "We played really hard against the oldest team in the country, and we've got a group that is getting better every day and really just getting started as a collective unit. We have to figure out how to score more points. It's not selfishness or anything like that, but it's more about spacing and screening better. We had some great possessions in the second half, but we need to do it more consistently. We are playing in some really tough road venues, and the Reilly Center is one of the toughest. But we love it. It's making us better."
Bucknell started the game with eight straight defensive stops, but the Bison could only manage a Forrest 3-pointer in their first eight trips for a 3-0 lead. After a free throw got the Bonnies on the board, Pip Ajayi set a bone-rattling screen in the backcourt and then ran to the rim, where he finished a Brandon McCreesh feed for an and-1 layup and a 6-1 lead.
St. Bonaventure finally scored from the field at the 13:23 mark on a short jumper by Barry Evans, and the Bonnies would go on to finish the half 11-for-20 after frosty start.
The Bison trailed by as many as eight in the first half at 32-24, but Motta beat the shot clock buzzer with a layup with 1:16 left, and two straight defensive stops left it a six-point margin at the break.
Bucknell shot 43.5 percent on the night after hitting at a 50-percent clip in the second half. The Bison went 9-for-24 from the arc and 12-for-15 from the foul line. St. Bonaventure finished with a 31-24 edge on the glass, with 11 of its boards coming at the offensive end.
The Bison return to action on Saturday at Marist at 4 p.m.
Team Stats
Buck
SBU
FG%
.435
.411
3FG%
.375
.357
FT%
.800
.846
RB
24
31
TO
17
12
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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