A second half comeback effort was not enough to lift the Red (1-1) over St. Bonaventure (2-0) on Wednesday night. Though the Red fought back from a 14 point deficit — outscoring the Bonnies by seven in the second half — it was unable to come up with a big shot in the waning seconds of the game, and eventually fell 72-68.
The length and physical play of the Bonnies in the first half gave the Red a hard time on offense. Though sophomore guard Devin Cherry put up six points in six minutes off the bench, the Red went into the locker room down by eleven.
The second period was a different story, though. When Bonnies’ big man Youssou Ndoye went to the bench with an injury three minutes into the half, the Red’s offense came alive. Led by senior forward Errick Peck — who had 17 points and seven rebounds — the Red exploded for an 11-2 scoring run, to put them down by two with 12 minutes left. Cherry had eight more points in the second half, helping the Red to get back into its quick transition game by pushing the ball up the floor.
Though the Red continued to chip away on offense, the Bonnies seemed to find an answer every time down the court and were still up by eight with 1:30 left in the game. The Red were not ready to give up, though, and a jumper by Cherry followed by an And-1 by sophomore guard Galal Cancer cut the lead in half. After the Bonnies missed two free throws, sophomore forward Shonn Miller connected at the rim to put the Red down by two with 23 seconds left. After a turnover, Cherry drew a foul on the other end, but only made one.
Coming out of a timeout with nine seconds left down by three, the Red got a great look at the basket. Senior forward Josh Figni — who had hit a big three earlier in the half — found the ball in his hands at the top of the key, but was unable to connect and the Red could not corral the rebound.
The Red will try to shake off the disappointing loss tonight at 8 p.m. against St. Peters at home.
Original Author: Scott Chiusano