Dec. 28, 2010
Final Stats
St. Bonaventure scored 33 points in the final 10 minutes, erasing a nine-point deficit to claim the Franciscan Cup from Siena, 82-79, in Olean. Andrew Nicholson scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Michael Davenport had 20 points, eight boards and seven assists to lead the charge.
Siena got a career-high 21 points from Kyle Downey, who started in place of injured Clarence Jackson for the second straight game. Freshman point guard Rakeem Brookins added 18 points, seven assists and no turnovers, but was limited to just nine minutes in the second half with apparent cramping. His replacement, sophomore Jonathon Breeden added a career-best 15 points, and Owen Wignot contributed 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
"I thought our kids played really well, it's a shame," head coach Mitch Buonaguro said. "We battled, and just played a good game. I thought St. Bonaventure, in the second half, really made some shots, and some big threes. But my team played with great effort, and I couldn't ask for more from my kids. We were a little outmanned (with Jackson out and Brookins and Griffin injured), and we responded."
Siena started the second half on a 27-14 run, turning a 32-28 halftime deficit into a 55-46 lead on a Downey layup with 10:30 to play. The Saints scored the final nine points during the spurt, forcing a Bonaventure timeout.
Ogo Adegboye hit one of his four 3-pointers after the timeout to cut the deficit to six, and start the Bonnies' furious finish.
Siena answered St. Bonaventure from the outside, but the Bonnies controlled the paint. In addition to Nicholson's 26, Siena's leading scorer Ryan Rossiter was held to just four points and five field goal attempts.
"They were doubling him, and they were really coming at him," Buonaguro said. "But it opened the other guys up, and they really responded. They took Rossiter out, and I thought we responded, we shot well."
Unfortunately for the Saints, so did St. Bonaventure.
Davenport hit three of his four 3-pointers during the Bonnies' critical run. The first capped off a 16-6 run, and gave St. Bonaventure a 62-61 lead with 6:22 to play. The last followed an Adegboye triple, finishing a 9-0 run that pushed the lead to 70-63 with2:36 left.
The Bonnies made 10 straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
It was the 26th time St. Bonaventure has beaten Siena in the 32 meetings between the two schools.
Siena headed to Philadelphia right from the Reilly Center where they will face St. Joseph's Friday at 4 p.m. Despite the loss, there was optimism in the Siena lockerroom after the game.
"All season we have been talking about our depth, and that showed today," Ryan Rossiter said. "Everyone that got in today did something positive. I would say this is one of our better team games, obviously we would have liked to come out with the win, but we did a lot of things well."
