BRONX, N.Y. — The atmosphere hadn’t reached the point of desperation or solemnity.
In fact, as the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team closed practice back in the Reilly Center on Tuesday afternoon, it was actually rather loose, with the same kind of spirit that had enveloped the place in early January, when it had ripped off a season best four straight victories.
Oh, the Bonnies understood that they needed a win and they needed one quickly. They knew deep down that these visits to still-struggling Fordham and last place George Mason were probably their best chances at ending their road woes, a prime opportunity to build some momentum back up before meeting 2-8 Duquesne at home next Wednesday night.
It wasn’t shrouded, however, in this “must win”ˇ mentality or “the season’s on the line” outlook — as any number of fans might have been — as they prepared for their chartered flight to New York City. And for that, for maintaining calm in all of those close losses that had begun to define their season, they should be commended.
Because, the fact is, Wednesday’s game with the Rams — which the Bonnies led in from start to finish and ended up winning 76-65 — probably was a “must win” and probably was the season in just one two-hour segment.
Yes, on the surface, this victory was about Bona finally being able to pull one out on the road, finally being able to close out an opponent after letting four or five others get away from it in the final minutes or final seconds.
But this one, which came against a Rams team that has now lost 10 of its last 12 and on coach Mark Schmidt’s 51st birthday, was more critical than that.
Rewind to the 15:18 mark of the second half, when Fordham had just completed an 8-0 run to turn a 10-point hole into a one-possession contest. If the Bonnies had allowed that lead to get away, or had lost it down the stretch the same way they had in those other games, their confidence, especially away from the RC, might have been totally shot.
Allowing a lead to slip away against nationally ranked UMasss is one thing. Beating the likes of Richmond and George Washington and Dayton is certainly difficult. But if they’d allowed a fast start and a double digit lead to eventually turn into a loss against the seemingly still directionless Rams, a team they were clearly more talented than — after having dropped four others on the road in the very same way — there may be no coming back from that, the proverbial damage having already been done.
The good news for Bona and its fans, a nice contingent of them inside Rose Hill Gymnasium Wednesday night, is that it didn’t allow that lead to get away, answering the Rams’ run with a 6-0 push of its own to get it back to 54-45. And it was able to put Fordham away, using a 10-0 run beginning at the 5:56 mark to run away with it.
And now, perspective is so much different from what it could have been.
Now, there’s so much hope again.
Instead of falling into a tie for ninth with the Rams and heading toward the basement, Schmidt’s team is alone in ninth — a full two games ahead of the bottom four teams — and just one game outside of the seventh spot, currently held by the Flyers. Instead of another crushing road loss, it’s now armed with plenty of confidence heading into Fairfax, Va., and a date with another 2-8 team, George Mason, Saturday night. If the Bonnies had lost to one of the league’s bottom feeders, there probably wouldn’t have been a reason to expect them to win this weekend. Upcoming games at La Salle and home with Saint Joseph’s would have seemed all the less winnable.
But they won, and now, as is naturally the way with sports fans, there’s no reason to think they can’t win on Saturday, no reason to think they can’t win out at home and still finish the Atlantic 10 slate 8-8 and the regular season at 18-12.
Such a swing of the pendulum with a great start and strong finish in The Bronx on Wednesday night.
Yes, demonstrating that it could finally win on the road, that it could close out an opponent, that it could get this season turned back around, was critical. How big was it for them?
“I’ll let you know on Saturday, I guess,” Schmidt joked.
He then added, “It’s good to win. It’s hard to win on the road; I’ve said that, you know, forever. It’s good to play well and execute and do the things we need to do to win. You need confidence, and if you continue to lose, some of that confidence is shaken.
“But for us winning, it shows that if we continue to play and work, we still have a chance.”
(J.P. Butler, a Times Herald sportswriter, may be reached at sports@oleantimesherald.com)
