St. Bonaventure got a boost Friday night in the return of Chance Moore from a one-game injury absence and started to get back on track, for a half.
The Bonnies led Friday’s Atlantic 10 contest at VCU 33-25 at halftime and extended that lead to 10 after the first basket of the second half. But they quickly fell behind and eventually faded down the stretch as the Rams scored 50 second-half points, winning 75-61 on their home court.
Moore scored 21 points and played 39 minutes, showing little effects from the foot injury that sidelined him for a half at Duquesne and all of a home loss to George Mason.
The Bonnies’ bench players, pressed into action amid Moore’s injury, returned to sparse playing time. Noah Bolanga played just 1:33, while Duane Thompson didn’t play after his 16-point outing off the bench against Mason. Backup center Xander Wedlow spelled Noel Brown for 4:04.
With little time on the court for Bona subs, VCU outscored Bona 15-0 in bench points.
Bona coach Mark Schmidt cited VCU’s hostile road environment in explaining his playing time decisions.
“It’s hard for those guys, young guys, in that type of environment. It’s just hard,” Schmidt said Monday in a video call with reporters. “We put Noah in there, it was (1:33) and I think he was minus-eight. We lost eight points. So it’s a hard place to play, it’s a hard place for a young guy to play. Chance wasn’t 100% but we needed him out there and I thought he played, especially in the first half, relatively well. But we’re going to need those younger guys, it’s just that type of environment is a little bit difficult.”
The Bonnies (15-6, 3-5) will avoid the road for the next week, starting with a Tuesday night tipoff against Dayton (8 p.m., YES/ESPN+, 100.1 FM/Bonnies Online Network), then Saturday afternoon against Fordham.
In Dayton (14-6, 4-3), Bona faces one of the A-10’s traditional powers, picked second in the preseason conference poll. The Flyers knocked off two top-10 teams (at the time) in non-conference play, No. 2 UConn and No. 6 Marquette, and were briefly ranked in the AP Top 25 in December. They lost three straight earlier this month but have won their last three to improve to 4-3 in the A-10.
— Senior forward Nate Santos, a returning all-conference selection, leads the Flyers at 14.6 points per game, shooting 43.3% on 3-pointers.
“Not just him, they have a lot of weapons, but he’s playing really well,” Schmidt said of Santos. “He’s a four-man, they run a lot of stuff for him, a lot of staggers and twists. But they do a good job in the open court, they really push the ball in transition. Their twos, threes and fours are shooting over 50% from 3s in the last five games, so they’re a hard guard. And the big guy (7-foot-1 freshman Amael L’Etang) is playing well, he’s taking more minutes from (Zed) Key and he can screen and pop. He presents problems as well.
“But they’re well-coached, they run good stuff and they’ve got good players. They had a little bit of a stumble but they’ve won three in a row and they’re playing really well.”
Point guard Malachi Smith, who played just one game last year, has made an impact in his return to the lineup, with six assists to just one turnover per game. Smith was an A-10 All-Rookie pick in 2021-22, but had two ankle surgeries after his sophomore year and meniscus surgery after his junior year.
“Malachi, it seems like he’s been there for 10 years,” Schmidt said. “But he’s a good player. He’s had his injuries but he’s a leader on the court. He’s the quarterback and hits big shots. The ball is always in his hands when they need a basket and he’s just a tough, gritty player that knows exactly what his game is, knows what Anthony (Grant) wants. He’s just a really good leader.”
— Bona co-captain guard Melvin Council, the point guard since Dasonte Bowen’s injury more than a month ago, has led the team in assists in 13 of 21 games and scored in double-figures a team-high 15 times. But he struggled uncharacteristically against VCU, scoring 10 points on just eight shots and committing a season-high seven turnovers to two assists.
Schmidt acknowledged opposing defenses are showing more attention to Council after his run of big games in late December into January.
“He’s got the ball in his hands a lot and, as we talked about when we had those injuries, he’s not a true point guard,” Schmidt said. “It’s the first time in his life that he’s played it and I think he’s playing really, really well, considering that he’s never played that position before. He’s got a lot on his shoulders. He’s running the offense, he’s gotta score, he’s gotta defend, he’s playing a lot of minutes. I’m not worried about Melvin. Melvin is a baller and he’s going to compete and he’s going to do the best job he can.”
