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Men's Basketball
Men's basketball falls to New Mexico, 81-54
Nov. 18, 2007
Photo Gallery
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The St. Bonaventure men's basketball fell victim to 13 New Mexico three-pointers as the host Lobos defeated the Bonnies 81-54 in front of 11,949 fans on the second day of the BTI Invitational at the PIT. Every player in a New Mexico (4-4) uniform got on the scoreboard, highlighted by four players in double figures. Kansas-transfer J.R. Giddens finished with the lone double-double of the game with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The Lobos were extremely efficient on the offensive end, dishing out 20 assists on their 30 buckets, while committing just 10 turnovers. On the flip side, New Mexico forced St. Bonaventure (2-2) into 19 turnovers that led to 21 points. UNM sank 13-of-28 (46 percent) of its shots from beyond the arc and finished a shade under 50 percent (30-61) from the field. The Lobos also outscored the Bonnies 32-16 in the paint thanks to a 41-31 edge on the glass, including 14 offensive boards. "If you don't shoot well, the last thing you can do is turnover the ball and get less shots," said head coach Mark Schmidt. "Offensively, we struggled and a large part of that was the defensive pressure they applied to take us out of our sets. Another part of that was that we were careless with the ball and that's unacceptable." Seniors Zarryon Fereti and Michael Lee were the lone Bonnies to reach double-digits. Fereti accounted for more than half (15-of-28) of the team's points in the second half and finished with a game-high 20. Lee eight of his 12 points in the first half. After an old fashion three-point play by Lee cut the early Lobo lead to one, 14-13, at the 13:04 mark, New Mexico embarked on a 15-1 run that put the Bonnies in a big hole. The run lasted just over six minutes, ending at the 6:58 mark with the Lobos holding a 29-14 advantage.
The two teams traded baskets before the Brown and White were able to rally off seven straight to whittle the game down to eight at 33-26. Five of the seven points came from the charity stripe with the only field goal coming from Fereti during an and-one bucket. St. Bonaventure's momentum was short-lived, though, as the Lobos closed the final 2:10 of the half on a 7-0 run of their own for a 40-26 lead at the break. New Mexico put the game out of reach halfway through the second half with a 12-2 run that stretched an already commanding 14-point lead to 26, at 66-40 with 10:55 remaining. For the second straight game, the Bonnies struggled from the field. St. Bonaventure made just 38 percent (18-48) of its shots from the field and 26 percent (6-23) from long range. Freshman Matt Morgan grabbed a team-high six rebounds in 13 minutes, while classmate Malcom Eleby dished out four assists. St. Bonaventure will conclude its stay in New Mexico on Sunday against Presbyterian College at 5 p.m. Live audio and video of each game of the tournament can be found via the tournament central found on www.GoBonnies.com. |
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