NCDS: Dave Moore, Asst. Coach - St. Bonaventure

As I write this entry, the Bonnies have won four of our last five games, and we are coming off a three-win homestand, playing some of our best basketball of the season.  February started off with a tough two-point loss at Dayton in front of 12,000 plus fans at UD Arena.  Our big man Andrew Nicholson did his best to carry us offensively with his most complete performance of the year, putting up 35 points and 11 rebounds.  Dayton did a better job of executing down the stretch, and pulled out the win, 63-61. 

After the game, we boarded the bus for a nine-hour road trip through the ice and snow.  We arrived back to campus at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday with the biggest game of the year, against Duquesne, in the R.C. on Saturday night.  After two focused days of preparation, our guys came out and played extremely hard against a very talented Duquesne team, who entered the game 8-0 in the Atlantic 10.  Our defense was tremendous, holding the Dukes (who were averaging over 80 points per game) to 62 points.  Michael Davenport saved the day with a 22-footer with 1.6 seconds left to win it for the Bonnies! Game one of the three-game homestand ended with the student section storming the court as the horn sounded to celebrate with our guys.  Classic Saturday night in the Reilly Center!

Game two of the homestand came after a much-needed week off to prepare for La Salle.  The Explorers are one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and a very talented group offensively.  Again, our defense carried the day, holding La Salle to 61 points.  Our scoring was very balanced, with four players in double figures, including a huge contribution off the bench from Marquise Simmons, who had 18 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.  Demitrius Conger came on strong in the second half, finishing with 15 points and five rebounds.  That’s 33 points and 14 rebounds from two sophomores! The win over La Salle got us back to .500 in the league at 5-5 with Saint Louis up next.

Game three of the homestand saw another big time contribution from one of our “role players.”  Da’Quan Cook tied a career-high with 21 points, and added eight rebounds to give us a huge lift when Andrew was in foul trouble in the first half.  Ogo Adegboye also had a huge game, with a career-high 29 points (including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc). Putting up 83 points on a tough, defensive-minded SLU team is no easy task, but with three guys scoring over 20 points, we felt good about the win even though Saint Louis shot 50 percent from the floor.  The win pushed our record to 14-10 (6-5 A-10).  Three of our last five games are on the road, starting at Richmond on Sunday afternoon.

It has been a year full of ups and downs.  Our goals are still out there for us to accomplish. Hopefully, we can continue to play as a team and make a lot of noise in the Atlantic 10 heading into March.  The “Madness” is right around the corner!