BRONX, N.Y. — A strong start to the second half was going to be the difference.
And when it wasn’t, an old-fashioned three-point play and back-to-back treys from Dominick Welch was surely going to be just the thing to put the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team over the top.
And when even that wasn’t enough, the Bonnies needed something that perhaps nobody envisioned when they first took the floor against 13th-place Fordham with their star center back in the starting lineup:
Overtime.
When it was over, however, no matter how it unfolded, they left this old, but charming venue with what they’d come for: their first win in two weeks and a “stolen” game away from the Reilly Center.
Welch broke out of a mini shooting slump, totaling a career-high 22 points, including 19 after halftime, and 14 rebounds and Bona owned the final five minutes while dispatching an inspired Fordham team, 62-55, before an almost exclusively pro-Bona crowd of 2,101 on Wednesday night inside Rose Hill Gymnasium.
As Kyle Lofton hit a pair of free throws to seal the outcome, the feeling emanating from behind the Bona bench, and around the larger fan population, undoubtedly, was one of relief. But as the Bonnies acknowledged their supporters on their way off the Rose Hill floor, that relief had transformed into cheers of triumph.
“It’s always tough to play here,” said coach Mark Schmidt, whose team snapped a three-game slide to move to 13-8 and 5-3 in the Atlantic 10 one game shy of the midway point. “(Fordham) plays really good defense, we got off to a bad start. But I thought we found a way.”
“It’s a good sign with a young team when they don’t have their best to be able to play as hard as we did and finish the game the way we did.”
On the heels of Welch’s two big 3s and a pair of free throws from Kyle Lofton, the Bonnies took their largest lead in regulation, 50-45, with 4:09 remaining. It was here, it seemed, that Bona would shake off a sloppy performance and finally pull away.
Down the stretch, though, Antwon Portley drilled a deep 3-pointer to tie it at 51 with 1:11 remaining and then sank a running floater to knot it at 53 with 26.8 ticks left, stunning the in-house audience.
On the Bonnies’ final possession, Kyle Lofton’s look at a game-winning pull-up jumper fell short, and Fordham’s desperation heave at the buzzer banged off the backboard.
And while fans might not have foreseen needing an extra session against a now 7-13 and 1-7 Rams squad, Bona wasn’t surprised that it ultimately got a game from a team that’s used an aggressive defense to hang close night after night.
“You go into every game anticipating a tough battle, so I wasn’t surprised that it was a tough game,” Schmidt said. “They’re all going to be tough, especially on the road. We missed (with 2.2 seconds left in regulation) and our job was to force overtime. We forced overtime, and now it’s a new game.”
Of that final period, in which Bona outscored the Rams, 9-2, allowing only a Ty Perry jumper with 20 seconds remaining, the 13th-year coach added: “We came out and got a basket at the beginning, got our confidence back and that’s what you want to do. It’s a five-minute game, you want to get off to a good start, and I thought we did.”
Noticeably absent during his team’s three-game losing streak, Welch helped to ensure that an expected victory didn’t somehow slip into the most sour loss of the season.
After a combined 1-for-14 effort from 3-point range in losses to VCU, Dayton and Rhode Island, the sophomore guard finished 4-for-7 from distance and 7-of-13 overall while also setting a career high rebounds.
He and Osun Osunniyi both had double-doubles as the 6-foot-10 center notched 10 points and 13 boards in his first action after missing the last three contests with a concussion. Together, the pair helped Bona to withstand an ugly first half in which it started the game 3-for-16, an uncharacteristically poor night of possession (16 turnovers) and a Fordham barrage of 3-pointers (12-of-33 for the game).
“(Dom) played really,” Schmidt acknowledged. “In the second half, he and ‘Shoon carried us. They both had double-doubles, Dom hit some huge 3s, got to the foul line. It was the best game he’s had in a few games. It was good that he shot the ball well and got his confidence back up.”
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Of Osunniyi, who was only recently cleared to return to action, Schmidt added: “He only practiced one day (Friday) and we didn’t go that hard, so he’s (a little) out of shape. But he brings something to our team that we need: rebounding, that presence inside. We missed him, and when he’s in there, we’re a much better team.”
Four nights after a strong effort against Rhode Island fell short, Bona never fully got it going against Fordham. It struggled from the field for the duration, tried to do too much at times and made far more unforced errors than is typical for this group.
Against a Rams team that makes you work for everything, Lofton finished 0-for-9 from the floor and no other Bonnie finished in double-digits. On the road, however, and following a three-game skid, Schmidt will gladly take the result.
“They’re going to play better at home than on the road; everybody does,” he said of the Rams, whom Bona handled 64-44 at the RC earlier this month. “They’re going to shoot the ball better. We contested some shots, we didn’t match up one time, but we won, and that’s the bottom line. That’s what I care about.”
