Bronx Teams Get Good Wins
by Ray Floriani
BRONX, N.Y. – Two nights in this interesting, storied borough, two different conferences at locations separated by just a few miles, if that much.
On Tuesday it was a MAAC matchup featuring Marist and Manhattan at Draddy Gym in Riverdale. The following evening, St. Bonaventure visited Fordham at Rose Hill in an Atlantic Ten meeting.
The MAAC meeting starts with Marist hitting two three-pointers in the first few minutes. Manhattan answers with five straight points, and that sets the tone for the type of evening in store.
Marist had slight leads most of the half and went on a late run to take an eight-point lead into intermission. The visitors’ outstanding lead guard, Jared Jordan, did not score until six and a half minutes were gone. He finished the half with 13 points, but his presence was felt in more than individual points. The senior leader plays under great control, and has an uncanny ability to get in the lane and break down the defense. On several occasions Jordan penetrated, then threw a gorgeous pass to a wide-open teammate in the corner.
Marist opened the second half with a field goal, and again Manhattan showed resiliency by going on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes. For the remainder of the contest, it was close and competitive – your “typical” MAAC showdown. A Will Wittington trey gave Marist a four-point lead with just over a minute left. Antoine Pearson responded with a three at the other end to cut it to one.
A crowd of over 2,400 was not listed as standing room only, yet still few could remain in their seats over the final sixty seconds. Jordan missed a jumper with 24 seconds left. The Jaspers came down and worked for a final shot. With 7 seconds remaining, Darryl Crawford got in the lane and hit an eight-foot jumper. Jordan pushed it up the floor and his running jumper was blocked out of bounds by Devon Austin.
Just under a second remained, and Marist set up an inbounds play. Jordan rushed a jumper that was missed and rebounded by the Jaspers, ending the game.
Manhattan’s 75-74 win saw them put four players in double figures. Crawford and Arturo Dubois, a workhorse down low, shared scoring honors with 13 each. Wittington paced all scorers with 21 points while Jordan added 17 and handed out 10 assists for Marist.
“Our kids just dug in,” Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen said. “It’s something we speak about in practice every day. Our guys just did a solid job tonight.”
Rohrssen was especially pleased with his freshmen point guards, Patrick Bouli and Antoine Pearson, who combined for 12 assists and one turnover.
Marist mentor Matt Brady credited Manhattan, but called it “one of my most difficult losses at Marist.” The main reason was allowing Manhattan to come back at several points and not closing the deal. The three by Pearson in the final minute, which cut the Marist lead to one, was especially upsetting.
Manhattan, with three freshmen and a sophomore in the staring lineup, is an emerging team. “They’re babies out there,” said Jasper assistant Ron Ganulin. He didn’t mean that in a negative sense, rather the reference was to age and experience. Crawford, the scorer of the winning basket, showed poise and a mindset beyond that of a first-year player.
“On the last shot I noticed they (Marist) didn’t help out as much,” he said. “I had two charges the first half so when I got inside I pulled up for the jumper.”
The win put the Jaspers at 8-3 in the MAAC, good for second and just ahead of Marist at 7-4.
The next night, St. Bonaventure entered with a team that has improved significantly in the last month. The pre-conference nightmares were over. A-10 play already gave the Bonnies wins over St. Louis and La Salle at home, with the most recent game being a road win over Richmond on Saturday.
They battled a good, especially in the friendly Rose Hill confines, Fordham team evenly throughout. There were several lead changes and even in the final minutes it was a one or two possession game. It was not enough, as Fordham made the crucial plays in the stretch and earned a 67-61 victory.
Sebastian Greene had a big game for the Rams, scoring a game high 18 points while pulling down give rebounds. Michael Lee led Bonaventure with 15 points and a solid 10-rebound effort.
The win was significant for Fordham as they closed the game out with two key players unavailable. Bryant Dunston fouled out and Marcus Stout went down with leg cramps in the final minutes. With those two players out Ram coach Dereck Whittenburg relied on Chris Bethel in the stretch.
“It was a hunch,” Whittenburg said of calling on Bethel. “He had been giving us energy and was very active earlier.”
Bethel finished with nine points and four rebounds, but the 6’5″ sophomore forward made a few big plays and held down the defensive fort in those final minutes.
Despite the rough start of the season, one has to give Bonaventure credit. They came out and played hard, giving a solid effort from tap to buzzer. They ran their sets on offense and defended rather well. The Bonnies also out-rebounded a good Ram team 35-32, with an 18-9 edge on the offensive boards. Down the stretch, a lack of depth contributed to weary legs and Fordham stepped up to make the critical plays.
The Bonnies struggled through a 3-10 pre-conference slate with several embarrassing losses at home. Since the new year, there has been a new focus.
“I think we have rebounded the ball better,” Bonnies coach Anthony Solomon said of the improvement. “Our December 30 game at Syracuse showed us what rebounding and defense can do for you as a team.”
On that date the Bonnies dropped an 82-70 decision to the Orange at the Carrier Dome. In that contest, Bonaventure stayed with Syracuse until the final minutes.
“We are trying to get more consistent,” Solomon added. “Team consistency comes when individuals are more consistent.”
Whittenburg also praised the visitors’ effort. “My hat goes off to coach Solomon,” he said. “They were ready and gave us a game. Truthfully, we didn’t expect anything less.”
Fordham improved to 13-7 (6-2 in A-10) while Bonaventure fell to 6-15 (3-5 in conference.
New AD Steve Watson made the trip with the team to Rose Hill. Watson recently took over at Bonaventure and is making a ‘hands on’ evaluation of the program. He travels with the team and attends as many practices as time allows. Watson played two years at Rutgers before transferring to Bowling Green in the early 90s. One of the Bowling Green assistants then was current Bonnie mentor Anthony Solomon.
During the post-game, I had the opportunity and good fortune to meet former Bonaventure great Tom Stith. A two time All-American (with the likes of Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson and Chet Walker) in the early Sixties, Stith scored over 2,000 points and at 6-5 could do it all. He had nine 40-point games and outplayed John Havlicek of Ohio State in the 1960 Holiday Festival final.
Stith came down with tuberculosis late in his college career. He recovered, but was never the player he was prior to the illness. He was a first round draft pick of the Knicks and played for them briefly. He still makes his home in New York. As great a player as he was, Tom Stith is an even greater human being and a pleasure to talk basketball with.
