Hall leads Bona down the stretch
Published: November 13, 2009, 11:08 pm
Story tools:
Share this story:
OLEAN — The students had filled their designated section well before tip-off, dressed in their Bona brown T-shirts, chanting throughout warm-ups while the pep band played on. And you had to wonder, given the history of a basketball program without a winning season since 2001-02, if they were displaying true faith or merely showing a willingness to suspend judgment.
Whatever the student body's motivation at the outset, in the end faith won out. The Bonnies came out like a team in midseason form, led by as many as 21 in the first half, and put away Cleveland State, 72-62, in the season opener for both teams at the boisterous Reilly Center.
Bona endured few harrowing moments in the second half as the Vikings, who lost three starters of last year's 26-win NCAA Tournament team, never drew closer than the final score. A Bona lineup with four returning starters showed its maturity, fueling expectations that a breakthrough to the winning side is forthcoming after last year's 15-15 campaign.
The first half belonged to two Bona sophomores, center Andrew Nicholson and guard Michael Davenport. Nicholson, the Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year as a freshman, scored 14 of his 17 points in the opening 20 minutes. Davenport, who averaged just 11 minutes a game in his first season, struck in the first half for 10 of his career-high 19 points.
Guard Jonathan Hall, a senior who led the team in scoring, rebounding and assists last season, hit meaningful shots throughout the second half when the Bonnies' composure was put to the test. He finished with a game-high 20 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The production provided by Nicholson and Hall came as no surprise. Davenport is another matter. He had an uneven freshman season but worked hard on his game, particularly his mental game, over the summer. Practice had barely begun when coach Mark Schmidt started raving about Davenport's standing as the most improved player on the team.
"I kind of worked on being more confident with the ball," Davenport said. "Last year was a learning experience. Everything was new. The tempo of the game was a lot faster. One of the things I actually worked on was more my ballhandling and my shooting. But the main thing was being more confident out there now that I got that one year under my belt."
"When he was a freshman last year every time he turned the ball over he used to get down on himself," Hall said. "So this year I took upon myself to help out the young guys that play the position. Just talk to them and help them out."
Bona's first half bordered on season-opening perfection. A three-quarter court trap caused the Vikings all kinds of grief and left them at a loss at how to execute out of the half-court set. At the other end, Bona repeatedly beat defenders off the dribble, drawing numerous fouls and moving into the one-and-one bonus with 8:57 remaining and the double bonus not long thereafter.
Cleveland State's new big men were unable to contain Nicholson. Or Davenport. Or junior point guard Malcolm Eleby, who ran the offense with conviction and precision. Six of Nicholson's 14 first-half points came on dunks. Davenport threw one down off a sweet Eleby feed after the two had earlier hooked up for a backdoor layup. The ease and simplicity of it all was capsulized in these startling statistics: Bona shot an insane 17 of 22 from the field with assists on 12 of the baskets.
If there's a cautionary tone to be sounded it's this: the Bonnies are 41-3 in season debuts at the Reilly Center since it opened in 1966. Yes, expectations have been raised, but it's much too early to take anything for granted.
Newsletters
Sign up now for daily and weekly newsletters from BuffaloNews.com and get quick links to the info you want delivered directly to your inbox.Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.