ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure head coach Anthony
Solomon has a lot to say about learning from losses, but at 4-11
the Bonnies must be somewhere to the left of that bell curve.

The Bonnies also like to talk about missed opportunities and
Wednesday was another one of those as they fell to Richmond 71-66
in Atlantic 10 Conference action.

Coming into the game SBU had the chance to open 2-0 in the
conference for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

As it were, the Spiders (5-10) seized the day and rallied from a
35-30 halftime hole to square their own conference record at
1-1.

“I feel like we missed a big opportunity,” said senior Bona’s
center Paul Williams. “I feel like we have to take advantage of
every opportunity and, obviously, this one we didn’t.”

Solomon expressed similar sentiments.

“It was a good ballgame. We had our share of opportunities, but
Richmond made the plays when they needed to on both ends of the
floor. You have to give them credit for that.

“We have to learn from it (the loss), grow from it and realize
this is a learning experience,” Solomon continued. “Tonight was
another lesson to be learned.

“Sometimes you have to learn the hard way and we’ve had our
share of opportunities to learn the hard way.”

Solomon must be referring to the stretch in which SBU went
0-for-December in dropping eight straight games.

To the Bonnies’ credit, the team gives a solid effort night-in
and night-out and Wednesday’s five-point loss was no exception.

“The effort part is a given,” Solomon maintained. “That’s
expected every night and we’ve had good effort throughout this
season. That’s become consistent.

“We’ve grown past the effort part, now our focus is on improving
our decisions and execution on both sides of the floor.”

After opening the game with a 35-30 edge at the break, the
Spiders came out and scored on their first three possessions of the
second half to tie the game at 37-37.

“That was big (for Richmond),” Solomon said of the Spiders’
quick start. “That gave them confidence and that lead (35-30)
evaporated very quickly.”

SBU went up 39-37 with 17:01 remaining, but Richmond ripped off
an 11-2 run to enjoy the largest lead of the game by either team at
seven points, 48-41.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino likened trying to come back once
down against Richmond like running on a treadmill at a level 10
incline, but the Bonnies were able to climb that hill.

A.J. Hawkins nailed a 10-footer on the baseline, Zarryon Fereti
drained a three, Jourdan Morris scored on the fast break to tie it
and Michael Lee slammed it home to regain the lead at 50-48 with
8:33 left.

Moments later Hawkins found Fereti flashing through the lane for
a scintillating alley-oop reverse dunk. The 6-3 Fereti corraled the
low pass from Hawkins and threw it down behind his head to
electrify the Reilly Center and make it 52-49 Bonnies.

“When we went down we recovered quite well,” Solomon declared.
“We tied it and it was a ball game.”

Richmond freshman David Gonzalvez then sparked the Spiders, who
spun off a 16-6 streak to go back up by seven at 65-58 at the 1:51
mark.

The Bonnies could’ve packed it in at that point, but a
three-point play by Lee, two foul shots by Hawkins and a trifecta
by Fereti made it 67-66 with just 29 ticks to go.

But in decidedly anticlimactic fashion the Spiders were 4-for-4
at the line in the final seconds to seal the 71-66 win.

“We’ve been in a lot of close late-game situations,” Solomon
observed. “The next step is to find ways to consistently win those
close games, but that part is not going to come easy.

“Taking that next step can sometimes be the hardest step to
take.”

The Bonnies are at George Washington on Saturday (2 p.m.) as the
third game of two-month stretch of A-10 conference games.