Hot-shooting Davidson nips Bonnies in second half
Dec. 10, 2002
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson overcame a 12-point second half deficit to post a 77-72 win over St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night at Belk Arena, denying another strong Bonnies effort. Marques Green's 23 points led all scorers but St. Bonaventure dropped its fifth game in a row and is now 2-5.
Davidson improved to 5-1. Its only loss came at Duke.
After a sluggish start by both clubs, the Bonnies went on a 10-2 run to open a 29-16 lead at the 4:09 mark of the first half on back-to-back three-pointers by Mike Gansey. Halftime saw a 40-28 Bona advantage as the Bonnies went 14-28 from the field while holding Davidson to 30 percent shooting. Wildcat point guard Wayne Bernard spent most of the first half on the bench after picking up two fouls and without him, Davidson committed 13 turnovers before the break.
"We played very well both offensively and defensively in the first half," said Bona coach Jan van Breda Kolff. "We played with passion and like we were ready to stop this losing streak. We disrupted their flow and cut off their outlets."
St. Bonaventure maintained its lead over the first five minutes of the second half. Patricio Prato's layin made it 50-38 with 15:15 to play before Davidson got hot. Bernard and three-point specialist Peter Anderrer sparked a 14-2 run to give Davidson its first lead of the night at 54-53 with 9:34 remaining. Bernard had five points in the surge.
From there, the lead changed hands six times and the game remained nip-and-tuck. Marques Green made it 73-72 favor Davidson with 23 seconds left on a jumper, but Bernard drained two free throws with 13 ticks left after being fouled by Prato. Green then missed a three-pointer with seven seconds left. Conor Grace grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made both of his free throws to seal the win.
Davidson shot a remarkable 62 percent from the field in the second half including 6-8 from three-point range. The Wildcats also went 17-19 at the line in the second half and were 25-27 at the line overall. Anderrer scored 11 of his 20 points in the second half and went 5-8 from three point range, leading a 10-21 team three-point game from the Wildcats.
"Obviously I'm very disappointed in the outcome," van Breda Kolff said. "As aggressively as we attacked their shooters in the first half, we didn't do it in the second half. We're playing with a shorter bench now that Patrick Methot-Lottin is out, but Davidson doesn't play a lot of guys either. A couple of our guys may have gotten tired. We talked about their three-point ability."
Green had another superb game, adding seven assists and five steals to his scoring effort. Prato totaled 17 points and six rebounds while Mike Ganset had 14 points. Jamil Terrell continued his improving play with a season-high 11 points, four rebounds and two blocks. Freshman guard Ahmad Smith made his first start and had two points, two assists and three rebounds.
The game marked the end of a long road swing that saw St. Bonaventure away from home 15 out of the season's first 22 days. The Bonnies will return to campus Wednesday and have eight days off from game action while semester exams are taken. Their next game is at Canisius on Dec. 19. That game will be televised by Empire Sports Network.
