On paper this looked like a good chance for the Bonnies to secure a home win. We emphasize “on paper.”
First, it was not a true home game as the site was Rochester’s Blue Cross Arena. A few hours from the Bona campus and attended by a faithful traveling party, it still was not the friendly confines of the Reilly Center. Next, Jaylen Adams, the prolific Bonnie guard, was still out of the lineup with an ankle injury. Finally, Fordham was coming off a nice road win at Davidson.
St. Bonaventure was able to secure a 73-53 victory by virtue of a strong second half and a sound defensive effort. The numbers of note:
Possessions: Fordham 66, St. Bonaventure 64 (a grind-it-out tempo)
Offensive efficiency: St. Bonaventure 114, Fordham 83
Matt Mobley of St. Bonaventure paced all scorers with 25 points. Denzel Gregg, who has stepped up in Adams’ absence, added 21. Jovantae Hawkins led Fordham with 16 points and Rochester product Antoine Anderson added 13 in his homecoming.
Mark Schmidt’s Bonnies have had difficulty defending the arc, which has cost them a few close games. On this afternoon they forced the Rams into a 7 of 22 (32 percent) afternoon. Both teams had 18 turnovers and an unusually high 28 percent TO rate. Of the Four Factors, eFG percentage was the deciding one: the Bonnies shot 58.8% while Fordham, effectively shut down on the perimeter, checked in at 42 percent.
The Bonnies are now 2-2 in Atlantic 10 play while Jeff Neubauer’s Rams are 1-3.
Road Warriors
Other contests in the Atlantic 10 saw Saint Louis break into the conference win column (1-4) by downing George Mason 69-63 in Fairfax. Richmond also took to the road and earned a win, 70-66 over Saint Joseph’s. The Spiders are a perfect 5-0 in conference play. Dayton defeated Duquesne 76-57 in Pittsburgh. The only ‘true’ home team to emerge victorious was Davidson, a 69-63 victor over VCU.
Kenpom.con certified the fact ‘there’s no place like home’ applies only to the Wizard of Oz. To date Atlantic 10 road teams have been victorious in 17 of 33 (51.5%) of the conference games. Simply, it is how you play in this conference, not where you play.
