ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — As the talent level has risen, it’s become more common for a St. Bonaventure men’s basketball freshman to, sometimes surprisingly, earn a starting opportunity from the get-go.
Jaylen Adams was the point guard from the outset in 2014-15. Josh Ayeni received a bulk of the early minutes at center in 2016-17. Kyle Lofton earned the nod over Nelson Kaputo last winter.
On Wednesday, it was Alejandro Vasquez’s turn. And the 6-foot-3 freshman guard made the most of that chance.
Vasquez, the last addition to Bona’s 2019 recruiting class, started alongside Lofton and Dominick Welch and scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Bonnies to an easy 90-45 triumph over Division III Alfred in their lone exhibition before 3,027 fans inside the Reilly Center.
The Queens native displayed an impressive shooting stroke, finishing 3-for-7 from deep and hitting all three of those during a three-minute stretch midway through the second half that re-energized a dwindling audience.
He was among a handful of new faces that shook off a slow start to have a solid debut in a Bona uniform. And, if Wednesday was any indication, he could be the next freshman to find a home in the opening lineup.
“He’s done a decent job of picking up the system,” said coach Mark Schmidt, when asked what has set Vasquez apart over the first four weeks of practice. “He can shoot the ball when he shoots good shots. He’s picked up the system quicker than some other guys that we’ve had in my 13 years. But he’s got a lot to work on — his defense, as you saw tonight, and I think he’ll admit that.
“We need two-to-three of the young guys to help us. Hopefully, he’ll be one of those guys.”
Alongside that backcourt, sophomore Bobby Planutis started at power forward while senior Amadi Ikpeze earned the nod over Osun Osunniyi at center. Osunniyi, junior guard Matt Johnson and freshman forward Justin Winston were the first off the bench, though Schmidt answered “no” when asked if that’s how the rotation might look for Tuesday’s opener against Ohio.
With the returning starters still knocking off rust and more young guys than veterans, Bona got off to a slow start, falling behind 4-0 while needing nearly three minutes to score its first basket. It played a sloppy first half offensively, shooting just 41 percent, including an 0-for-11 mark from 3-point range.
The deeper the game went, however, the more comfortable the Bonnies looked collectively. And by the end, almost all of their new players had made a significant contribution.
Planutis totaled 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including a stretch of seven-straight that pushed the Bona lead past 20 early in the second half. Freshman Robert Carpenter, the last off the bench, notched 10 points and nine rebounds. Johnson handed out eight assists with nine points and Winston matched Carpenter with a game-high nine rebounds.
Bona, allowing its young guys to play almost all of the second half, outscored the Saxons 56-24 and made 7-of-13 from 3-point range in the period to turn a 13-point game into a typical exhibition blowout.
Overall, Schmidt was pleased with how his 2019 class, plus the Mount St. Mary’s transfer Planutis, performed.
“In a game like this, it’s hard to evaluate,” he acknowledged. “Alfred is not going to be Ohio; you get away with stuff from a fundamentals standpoint that you’re not going to get away with (against) a better team.
“But I thought, for the most part, we were in the right positions. They did some good things and some bad things, but we need to have two-to-three of those guys step up and play like veteran guys, and I think they will.”
Vasquez, a product of basketball powerhouse The Patrick School in New Jersey, who wasn’t formally added to the roster until June, scored the Bonnies’ second basket of the game on a breakaway layup. He later crossed up an Alfred defender before knocking down a stepback 3 in a sequence that sent his bench into a frenzy.
As with many of his teammates, it just took some time for him to shake off the nerves.
“I had butterflies,” said Vasquez, who goes by AJ. “A freshman coming in (and starting), I just tried to play as comfortable as I can. It was cool, I enjoyed it.”
It wasn’t all good news for Bona, which announced prior to the game that junior college transfer Jaren English, who figured to be part of the rotation due to his versatility and experience, will miss 4-6 weeks with a hand injury.
But Schmidt’s team has a positive performance to build on with just five days until its season-opener.
“(It was just the) new guys being comfortable and just knowing what we need to do,” Ikpeze described as the difference between a sluggish first half and a strong second, “us just executing our stuff on offense and just locking in on defense. I feel like as it went on, we settled in and just got back to what we do — Bonaventure basketball.”
Schmidt’s son and former Olean High star Mike Schmidt finished with eight points, three assists and three rebounds in his first action at Alfred. Fellow former Big 30 stars Elliot Bowen (Ellicottville), the reigning Empire 8 Rookie of the Year, and Adam Enders (Belfast) chipped in four and two points, respectively, for the Saxons.
