Defense, hot shooting of Saint Joseph's leads to long night for Bonnies
Jan. 8, 2003
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Stifling defense and hot three-point shooting boosted Saint Joseph's to a 75-58 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over St. Bonaventure Wednesday at the Reilly Center.
Saint Joseph's, which improved to 10-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play, used an 18-3 run in the middle of the first half to pull away. The Hawks led 14-13 at the 13:37 mark before back-to-back three-pointers by Pat Carroll and Delonte West and another basket by West gave the Hawks a 22-13 lead with 11:42 left. The Bonnies closed to 22-16 on a jumper by freshman guard Ahmad Smith with 10:02 left, but the Hawks rolled off the next 10 points to take a 32-16 lead with 6:36 to play.
St. Bonaventure closed to 36-23 on a basket by sophomore guard Mike Gansey with 2:32 left but did not score again in the half. Jameer Nelson hit a three-pointer with 42 seconds left and West hit a three right before the end of the half for a 44-23 halftime lead.
The Hawks put the game away with a 9-0 run that expanded their lead to 60-33 with 12:00 to play in the second half. The Bonnies came no closer than 17 points the rest of the way against the top defensive team in the A-10.
"(Saint Joseph's) executed perfectly," said Bonnies coach Jan van Breda Kolff. "They were extremely efficient on the offensive end. We did not play well, but they played extremely well. The bad news is that we lost, but the good news is that it only counts as one."
The Hawks shot 55 percent and were 10-22 on three-point shots, including 8-13 in the first half. The Bonnies, conversely, shot 37 percent for the game and hit just two of their 14 three-point shots, a season low for the best three-point shooting team in the A-10.
"They can come out and get up on your shooters," van Breda Kolff said. "Then every time we drove, their big men made us adjust our shots, which resulted in us not getting any easy baskets. They have the best interior defense in the Atlantic 10. And as the game wore on their defense got better."
St. Bonaventure, which has now lost six straight to the Hawks, fell to 6-8 overall and 1-1 in the A-10. It also was the Bonnies' first home loss in four games.
Gansey led the Bonnies with 14 points. Junior point guard Marques Green was held to a season low 12 points and did not hit a three-point shot for the first time this year. He did collect a career high eight rebounds with six assists. Sophomore forward Maurice Young was the only other Bona player in double figures with 10 points.
Carroll and West led the Hawks with 17 points apiece, while Nelson had 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists. West also had eight of the Hawks' 22 assists.
"There are a few times when you coach when you have a team follow a game plan almost to the letter," said Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli. "These guys followed the game plan exactly the way we laid it out. I would back Delonte (West) and Tyrone (Barley) to guard anybody. We felt Marques (Green) would get what his points, but we didn't want Gansey or Prato to get going."
The Bonnies go on the road for their next two games. They will play at 21st-ranked Xavier this Saturday at 6:00 and visit Fordham Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
