St. Bonaventure 75 Siena 66: Franciscan Cup remains in Olean

The Bro. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup remains in Olean. St. Bonaventure defeated Siena 75-66 Wednesday night at the Reilly Center. The hard-fought match consisted of seven draws and nine lead changes. Gerry McNamara’s Siena Saints suffered their first defeat and are now 2-1 on the young season. The Bonnies are now an impeccable 3-0. Figures and notes…

Assets: 64

Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 117, Siena 103

Four factors:

Offensive efficiency. The Bonnies have surpassed triple figures in this category in two of their last three outings.

So far, Mark Schmidt’s group with the small sample size is averaging an offensive efficiency of 110. On the defensive side, they are allowing an efficiency of 105, just above the 100 mark. That’s the number to watch. As Schmidt has often said, the offense may fluctuate, but the defense, something you can better control, must be constant.

Game flow. Bonnies led by one early before Siena went on an 11-4 run to take a six-point lead late in the first half. Bonnies then held Siena without a field goal for the final five minutes of halftime and took a 36-33 lead into the intermission.

The game was tied in the final stanza before the Bonnies went on a 10-2 run to open an eight-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining. It was a one-possession game with just under eight minutes to play before the hosts made another 10-2 spurt to widen the gap and ultimately seal the win.

Bonnies faced a challenge. Until the latter part of the game, the Bonnies could not achieve separation. Credit Siena’s physicality and resilience in the face of a potential Bona rally.

“We were tested tonight,” Schmidt told Tapinto Greater Olean. “And I thought we responded. Siena’s size and physicality doesn’t show on film, but we matched it. Winning points in the paint 46-20 says a lot about our guys. I’m proud of their effort.”

Kenpom.com MVP: Friend Simmons. The junior guard led the Bonnies with 24 points. Simmons shot 9 of 13 (2 for 2 from three) from the floor and a perfect four of four at the charity stripe.

Gavin Doty. The 6-foot-2 sophomore from Siena was a handful. Doty led all scorers with 25 points. Additionally, he fought his way to grab eight rebounds while dishing out four assists.

Bona’s Cayden Charles was assigned to Doty and called his own performance “Unacceptable.” Charles was quick to acknowledge Siena’s standout, saying, “He’s a great player, crafty, coming in, shooting fakes, pull-ups, all that.”

Block party. The Bonnies turned down eight shots as a team on the season. Leading the way was Joe Grahovac with a career-best four. Through three games, the 6’10” sophomore is averaging three blocks per game. Frank Mitchell rejected two shots and Andrew Osasuyi and Charles had one each.

Notes: Brendan Coyle was Siena’s other double-digit scorer with 14 points. The Bonnies’ Cayden Charles (15) and Frank Mitchell (13) joined Simmons in the double-digit category. Charles scored his 1,000th point while pulling down nine rebounds (five offensive). “We’re happy to have him, blessed to have him,” Schmidt said of the 6-foot-4 senior guard. “He is ruthless, always gets those loose balls.”

Siena shot 40% from the floor, including 40% from three. The Bonnies checked in 53%, 38% from downtown.

Despite being outscored by 26 points in the paint, Siena had a slight rebounding advantage of 32-31. Siena’s Tasman Goodrick led all with 12 rebounds, while Mitchell Bona trailed with 10.

Bona’s Amar’e Marshall led the Bonnies with five assists and scored seven points. Dasonte Bowen scored a season-best eight points for Bona.

Next up is a home game on Saturday with the Bonnies entertaining Youngstown State. The Penguins, coached by Ethan Faulkner, went 2-1 after a 115-53 victory over Penn State Shenango last Monday.