ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — It’s a losing streak that comes with a bit of an asterisk.
Yes, the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team has lost two straight to Niagara after winning six in a row from 2011-16.
Two years ago, however, Bona played without star point guard Jaylen Adams, dropping its home-opener in a season that ultimately ended in the NCAA Tournament. Last winter, in an 80-72 road setback, it was without senior starters Courtney Stockard and LaDarien Griffin.
Inching closer to full health, the Bonnies will be expected to snap that skid when they meet an improving Niagara team, but one which still ranks No. 314 (of 353 teams) in the KenPom projection tonight (7 o’clock, WPIG-FM, WHDL-AM, ESPN+-live stream) inside the Reilly Center. They’ll also be looking for their first win over an annual rival after dropping contests to Siena and Canisius earlier in the year.
But if Bona (6-4) is any more motivated to take down its Little 3 rival after those two shorthanded losses, it isn’t displaying it publicly.
“Last year is last year; two years ago is two years ago,” coach Mark Schmidt said. “We’re preparing to play a very good Niagara team that has beaten us the last two years, but I don’t think that’s going to have any bearing on how we play or they play. We’re just trying to be the best team we can be at 7 p.m. (tonight).
“We’re not fully healthy, but we’re getting healthier. (Of course) everybody wants a team that’s 100 percent.”
After winning just one of its first five games, Bona has quickly turned its season around, capturing five straight, including the last two (over Hofstra and Division II Gannon) by 25-plus points.
Much of that turnaround can be attributed to the return of sophomores Osun Osunniyi and Jaren English from injury. Part of it is due to the improvement it’s made offensively, particularly from 3-point range. The schedule, too, has played a factor, as only one of those wins came against a team that ranks inside the top 185 of the KenPom (Hofstra, at No. 148).
Whatever the driving force, the Bonnies have turned a corner from a performance standpoint. And, much sooner, than last year, they’re becoming a more confident — and more dangerous — group as a result.
“We didn’t have a full team, we had injuries,” Schmidt said of that 1-4 start. “We’re a much better team defensively, we’re a much better team rebounding the ball with ‘Shoon in there. We missed those two guys, and that’s a big part of your team.
“Getting those two guys back helped us, and then we won a few games, got some confidence. We’ve got a long way to go to get to where we need to be, but we’re headed in the right direction.”
Added senior Amadi Ikpeze, “Definitely. Guys just keep working, learning from our mistakes, watching film, coming to practice everyday ready to get better. (Now it’s) just using this break coming up with no school, just worrying about strictly basketball, using that to boost our confidence and just really make sure we’re on top of our game.”
For the seventh-straight game, Bona will be the favorite, this time against currently the lowest-ranked D-I team on its schedule.
Niagara was set to begin a new era under Patrick Beilein, the son of former Michigan and current NBA Cavaliers boss John Beilein, only to see the former resign in late October just six months after being hired, citing personal reasons. Quickly, the Purple Eagles made a permanent hire in assistant Greg Paulus, the former Duke point guard who also spent a season as the starting quarterback at Syracuse.
And under Paulus, things have gone from bad to better.
After an 0-5 start which included an 86-39 thrashing by Rutgers, a team Bona beat 80-74, Niagara (2-6) won its next two (over Norfolk State and Patriot League favorite Colgate) and had an 11-point lead at Albany before falling 84-80 last Saturday.
The Purple Eagles are minus four of the five starters that downed Bona last November at the Gallagher Center, but did return high-scoring guard James Towns. They also have two other double-digit scoring guards in Marcus Hammond (10.5 points) and Raheem Solomon (12.6 points).
Their rise has aligned with a recently torrid stretch for Towns, who’s gone for 25 and 26 points over his last two games (and averaging 16.6 on the year) and scored 18 against the Bonnies last winter.
“They have a new coach, a new system. Like any new coach, new system, it takes a little bit of time to get comfortable, and it seems like they are,” Schmidt said of Niagara, which has struggled defensively this season, allowing 78 points and for opponents to shoot nearly 48 percent from the field.
“They have really good guards, with Towns leading them. He can shoot it, he can take you off the bounce. He’s a really good player, quick; he’s hard to keep in front. He does a really good job of getting into the paint and either scoring himself or creating for others. But they have good guards and any team that has good guards is going to be a team to be (dealt with) offensively.”
Added the 13th-year head coach, who owns a 6-6 record against Niagara: “They beat Colgate, and Colgate went down and beat Cincinnati, so yeah, they’ve got talent. They’re getting comfortable with their system, and it’s going to be a tough test for us.”
