St. Bonaventure (9-1) took care of business against the Buffalo Bulls (5-5) on Saturday evening, securing a 65-55 win at home. Senior forward Chance Moore led the charge for the Bonnies with 16 points, while Iowa transfer Dasonte Bowen contributed five rebounds and six assists.
“We just tried to stick with the coach’s game plan,” Moore said. “The goal was to keep guys in front of us and out of the paint. We had a couple lapses, but for the most part, we did a good job of that.”
The Bonnies came out strong defensively, forcing four turnovers in the first five minutes of play. This defensive approach has become a hallmark for St. Bonaventure, which ranks among the top 30 teams nationally in defensive metrics, including defensive rating (according to BasketballReference.com).
“We try to create offense off our defense, which we did in the first five to six minutes,” said coach Mark Schmidt. “But then we hit a lull. Defensively, we hung in there, but offensively, we were sluggish.”
Because of the early defensive pressure, the game saw a slow offensive start. St. Bonaventure led wire-to-wire, with Lajae Jones setting the tone with a dunk on the first possession, giving the Bonnies a lead they would never relinquish. Buffalo, despite never leading, stayed within striking distance, never trailing by more than 14 points.
Buffalo’s defense has been a weakness this season, allowing nearly 80 points per game. But the Bonnies struggled to capitalize, finishing with just 65 points on a subpar 4 of 14 shooting from beyond the arc.
“We need to play with more pace,” Schmidt reflected. “I’m always talking about playing harder on defense, but we need to do the same on offense—quicker cuts, better reads, fewer turnovers.”
The Bonnies committed 11 turnovers and were even with Buffalo in the rebounding battle, something that Schmidt acknowledged needs improvement.
“We’re doing a good job of keeping the ball in front of us, and that’s the identity we want,” Schmidt said. “But the rebounding, offensive execution and taking care of the basketball all need to get better.”
St. Bonaventure did, however, excel in fast-break points, outpacing Buffalo 19-6. This up-tempo, north-south style is exactly what Schmidt wants from his team and was a major factor in the win.
“We’re a north-south team, not east-west,” Schmidt added. “We’ve been doing a good job of that this season, but I don’t think we did as well today.”
The Bonnies certainly were aggressive enough in the game, as they went to the foul line 24 times, hitting 19 of them. Noel Brown, who remains top ten nationally in field goal percentage at 70.8%, went 2 of 4 from the field and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line in the victory.
With three nonconference games remaining, the Bonnies look to build on this win and address issues before facing tougher competition in Atlantic-10 play. Schmidt will be focusing on cleaning up turnovers, improving offensive execution and crashing the boards as the team, with just three returning players, continues to build chemistry.
