ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The St. Bonaventure Bonnies, the team with a completely new roster, the team that was picked to finish tenth in the preseason, knocked off the preseason favorite Dayton Flyers, 68-to-59. The sold-out Reilly Center crowd brought the energy on Saturday evening, fueling the Brown and White to their first home victory over Dayton since Jan. 11, 2012.
With tonight’s win, Bona now has a conference record of 7-4, which puts them in a tie for third in the Atlantic 10.
Not a bad place to sit in the standings with a month left in the season.
Teams and fans should know never to doubt the Bonnies, especially since a special bond is growing among this young team.
On Saturday, Jan. 28, the night Bona knocked off VCU at the Siegel Center in Richmond, the Bonnies held a team meeting a couple of hours before the game.
“We talked about everything and what we needed to do,” said Moses Flowers, one of the team captains on this Bonaventure team. “We are just connected. We are all just so locked in. At that meeting, we talked about how we are all here together. We need to be our brother’s keepers and have each others’ backs. We are brothers. Our connectivity is there, and our comraderie is there.”
“Our motto is to stay connected on and off the court,” added Chad Venning, grinning from ear to ear.
Bona has won three in a row since this meeting.
Considering nobody on this team knew each other a mere eight months ago, the bond on this team is quite special.
The Bonnies looked like brothers against the Flyers, as all five starters finished in double digits. Bona also finished the game with 15 team assists. They made 23 field goals.
Venning, the 6-foot-10 center from Brooklyn, New York, led the way with 17 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks.
For Bona to have a chance at knocking off Dayton, Venning needed to play well. He matched up against Dayton’s DaRon Holmes, one of the best centers in the country.
Although the Dayton big man finished with 21 points of his own, Venning kept delivering punch after punch to Holmes on the offensive end.
With 3:52 left in the first half, with the Bonnies up by a point, the Brooklynite slammed home a massive dunk as Holmes could only helplessly watch.
Moments later, Venning made a spectacular move to the rim, finishing an up-and-under reverse layup while Holmes defended him. That Shawn Kemp-like play electrified the student…
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