Post Game: SBU Coasts vs. UMass, Schmidt falls off Scooter

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The Result: The Bonnies got a nice road win over UMass this afternoon by a score of 69-55. SBU led by nine at the break and coasted during much of the second half. The Bonnies snapped their two game loosing streak and Mark Schmidt fell off his scooter while coasting over to shake hands with Derek Kellogg after the game. They are 1-0 in league play.

What You Should Know: The Bonnies got out to a fast start, a 7-0 lead after a Jay Adams fast break three pointer but as you’d expect, UMass climbed back into the game taking a 12-11 lead on a fast-break alley-oop dunk (it was a ridiculous reverse dunk off the pass, easily going to be a SportsCenter top 10 play). It was the exact type of run we knew UMass was capable of and talked about in our pre game post. Still the Bonnies led 13-12 at the under twelve media timeout following a short Denzel Gregg jumper via an Alston pass.

After the under 12, Posley missed a pair of wide open three pointers (weird), the second which led to an open UMass three ball, expanding their lead to two. Also telling mid-way through the half was Dion Wright passing up a wide open ten foot jumper, instead taking a step or two in for a missed lay-up…really let’s you know Wright has little to no confidence in his jump shot (he would later brick a near three pointer). A few possessions later, Wright missed an easy lay-in and the play resulted in a jump ball….The Bonnies led by two (17-15) at the under eight but failed to grab a loose ball, instead giving the rock back to UMass…this happened twice earlier in the half, both led to Cady Lalanne dunks.

With 5:38 left the Bonnies led 12-0 in points off turnovers; a huge win for the Schmidt Heads. Maxie Esho tied the game at 19 on what appeared to be a clear travel during a lay-up (Eurostep maybe, either way, not called, Schmidt couldn’t spring up to argue).

At the under four the Bonnies led by a pair but, Posley needed to dive for a lose ball (after Jay Adams was stripped) in order to save a possession. Jay was clearly bothered by the UMass pressure, most notably, Jabari Hinds who forced a number of bad passes by the freshman…this was no surprise as you knew Kellogg would throw pressure at the baby-faced point guard. A Dion Wright offensive put-back, an offensive foul on UMass and an and-one by Cumberbatch gave the Bonnies a 26-19 lead with 1:34 left in the half…

An Alston runner gave the Bonnies a 28-19 lead the half (the Bonnies second big run (seven or more points) in the frame. The Bonnies had forced UMass into a halfcourt game and they struggled to shoot it big time (1-9 from three) from deep. Defensively, it was a tremendous half by the Bonnies. Ndoye had eight and six at the midpoint and no other Bonnie had more than five points (Adams). SBU was plus seven on the glass, plus three on turnovers and took just three foul shots….most importantly, they allowed just one large UMass run and answered it immediately. UMass’ ten turnovers combined with poor shooting gave the Bonnies that nine point edge…very similar to the A10 opener last year…Could the Bonnies hold the fort over the final 20…?

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By the under 16 the Bonnies lead was ten at 35-25, but the Brown and White had been whistled for five fouls in under four minutes…a huge number. UMass missed or turned it over on their first three trips, but then scored on their next four in a row. Luckily, the Bonnies were answering the bell- A Dion Wright put-back dunk, a Posley banked floater and a Jay Adams runner. So the Bonnies survived the opening four minutes in terms of a run against them, but the fouls were troubling.

A long two pointer by Cumberbatch (bad shot), led to SBU’s sixth foul.

Back to back Tyler Bergantino (all world scrub) lay-ups cut the lead to four and the Bonnies had officially blown the 12 point lead before a UMass foul.Here we go again…

A Denzel Gregg right handed hook shot stopped the run (thank God, Ndoye was on the pine), and allowed SBU to get Ndoye back into the game. Gregg was then fouled on a runner on the next possession and missed both (as you’d expect from a terrible FT shooter) which led to a Hinds three pointer, and just three point lead for the Bonnies. You knew UMass was going to come back in the game and they had. Ndoye then missed two free throws of his own before Cumberbatch was fouled (made both shots)…Fouling out center Tyler Bergantino in about four minutes…13-5 run before Cumberbatch made a pair of FTs to stem the tide.

It was 39-34 at the under 12 timeout but Cady Lalanne had fouled Ndoye, giving their best player four fouls with a ton of time left. A critical play, and break for SBU.

Youssou made his FT’s, then an Alston steal led to a Cumberbatch fast break three pointer. 44-34 Bonnies with 10:20 left. From there, two Posley three pointers and a massive Ndoye alley-oop gave SBU a 49-35 led with 7:57 left- the game was essentially over at this point.

The Bonnies were handling some moderate UMass pressure (slight press) and getting stops off an ice cold team who could not throw it in the ocean from downtown…just what we called for on Friday. It was a 12-0 run over 4:02. The teams continued to play basketball, the Bonnies well and UMass not so well. It was 60-42 at the under four minute break.

By the under four timeout the game was over and the Bonnies could pull Ndoye  (he fouled out though) off the floor after he dominated Cady Lalanne all afternoon. It was the Bonnies sixth ever A10 road opening win.

What it means for the Bonnies:  It means the Bonnies snap their two game loosing streak and start league play 1-0. They now come home to play a really good, but short handed Dayton team, on Thursday night. The Bonnies showed they shook off those two absolutely brutal losses and beat a decent team on the road…no easy task. Don’t get too high, but this win certainly feels nice after the last two weeks. Road wins in the A10 don’t grow on trees and the Bonnies earned one today…they didn’t “steal” one…they earned one..they kicked the crap out of UMass today. Nicely done boys.

The Good News: The Bonnies really did a great job defending the three point line tonight after back to back games in which they did not. The interior defense has been good all season, so you’d hope if they sure up the 3PT defense they’ll be in great shape. Ndoye played a superb game against a preseason first team all-league center and continues to rip down rebound after rebound…he made Lalane his bitch to be honest. The Bonnies had a nine point lead at the break despite poor shooting, fueled by some great defense and rebounding. Posley continues to score the ball, even when he doesn’t shoot it exceptionally well. SBU played well on the road and continued to go at UMass in the second half. Being 1-0 feels a lot better than being 0-1 coming back to face a top tier Dayton team who just ripped Duquesne to pieces at home.

The Bad news: The bench continues to be a non-factor…I’ll stop mentioning it at some point. The Bonnies left too many points on the board in terms of foul shoots missed. Cumberbatch continues to take too many shots and make too few of them…he was 3-11 today for ten points. I’d write again about giving Jalen Adams more time in Cumberbatch’s place but it’s not worth it at this juncture in the season. I didn’t love, or feel comfortable with the way the Bonnies handled the UMass press at the end of the game and wonder why they waited so long to come at SBU with that pressure…maybe we’ll see more of that when they visit the RC in February.

Bonnies’ Player of the game:  Ndoye, without question. The senior absolutely dominated today with 14-13-3 before fouling out. Ndoye was pulling down boards left and right, making hook shots and made 4-6 free throws as well. This was a great effort from the big man against a good foe. He could have his way against Dayton Thursday night too…more on that to come later.

Foe of the Game: Caddy Lalanne had 12-8 but really was a non-factor. No one else on UMass did much of anything as the Bonnies defense bottled them up all afternoon.

Good stats: 69-55 win. Great stat. UMass was 4-21 from three and shot 35% for the game. Bonnies were plus five on the glass and forced UMass into 15 turnovers. Bonnies also scored a ton of fast break points which I’m not sure of the total yet.

Bad stats: 17-27 from the line is still a bit ugly. Cumberbatch has got to be more selective in his shooting and thank goodness it didn’t get close at the end because Ndoye had fouled out with his five.

Ivan Kovacevic Unsung Hero of the game: Mark Schmidt for refusing to use the walker, a cain, or anything else to brace himself during the game. Schmidt is just an absolute beast running up and down with the torn Achilles covered by a massive sock he stole from Ndoye’s locker.Schmidt rolling into the handshake line and falling over was a priceless clip…I need the vine so if you have it, email me!

What’s Up Next: SBU travels back to the RC to take on the Dayton Flyers who smashed Duquesne at home in their A10 via 10 three pointers and a combined 49 points from their backcourt trio.

Schmidt Video