CLEVELAND — It was his No. 1 priority in the offseason.
Osun Osunniyi, despite bumping his scoring average from eight to 11 points per game, knew that he was still limited offensively last year, relying primarily on easy dunks and putbacks for his production. The goal heading into his junior campaign was simple: to both extend his range and be able to finish a few more post moves.
If Tuesday was any indication, he’s already made some notable strides in that regard … and without having an exhibition or “secret scrimmage” on which to build.
In his first real action in nine months, Osunniyi had his best offensive outing in a brown and white uniform, scoring a career-high 25 points to lead Bona to an 81-74 triumph over Akron in a mostly empty Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
It was just the third 20-plus-point game for the 6-foot-10 center and two points more than his previous best of 23, set in a home loss to Duquesne last February. And it included a made 15-footer, the kind of shot that he’d struggled to knock down over his first two seasons, and a couple of nice finishes in addition to his usual handful of dunks.
“SHOON’S really been working,” coach Mark Schmidt noted in a postgame Zoom session from inside the locker room. “I thought he played really well. He gave us that inside scoring, hit a jump shot, he’s been putting in the time. We need him to do that.
“Just like all the guys, he needs to get in better shape, he needs to be more active; he’s got to play harder, more consistently. But (for) the first game, getting 25 and eight (rebounds), that’s what we need from Shoon.”
As he typically does, the junior center was quicker to point out his wrongdoings and deflect credit to his teammates. He admitted that his confidence took a bit of a hit after missing three-straight free throws in the first half. But even he was “satisfied” with how his first game went as an upperclassmen.
“I felt good,” he said. “Shooting that midrange jumper and knocking it down, I was working over the summer on that, just trying to expand my game as much as possible, trying not to be just an inside presence, work on being able to stretch out. It felt good to be on the court and showcase my skills.”
Of course, he knows he also needs to improve on that 5-of-9 effort at the line.
“Now if he’d just made those four free throws, he’d be close to 30 points,” Schmidt said with a smirk.
Jalen Adaway, making his Bona debut after sitting last year due to NCAA transfer rules, earned the start at power forward over returning starter Justin Winston, lining up alongside the four other regulars from last year.
The 6-foot-5 Miami (Ohio) transfer finished with six points on 3-for-5 shooting in 27 minutes. Winston wound up playing just five minutes off the bench. For the game, Bona received just six points from the four reserves who played, one of the few low points from an overall impressive win over the Zips.
It did receive a solid contribution from junior college transfer Eddie Creal, however, who scored four points and grabbed four offensive rebounds while adding a few hustle plays. Schmidt was pleased with how the hard-nosed guard played in his first game at the Division I level, comparing him to former Bona guard Idris Taqqee.
“Eddie’s a glue guy, he’s a garbage man in a good sense,” the 14th-year coach said. “He gets offensive rebounds, he gets putbacks. When Eddie plays to his strengths, he’s going to be a really good player for us.
“He’s a guy that you don’t have to run plays for him. He’s very similar to Idris; you don’t run plays for him, he makes his own plays. He’s a blue-collar guy, he gets loose balls. Those are the plays he can make. He’s a tough kid, he likes to compete and he’s going to be a positive for us this year.”
Though most fans had to watch from home, the venue, home to the NBA’s Cavaliers, wasn’t totally empty. Each team actually had about 50-60 fans, primarily close friends and family members, masked and scattered in the sections behind their respective benches. Official attendance was listed at 150.
It was the second win on an NBA court in as many seasons for Bona, which downed Rutgers in the James Naismith Classic at Toronto’s ScotiaBank Arena in November 2019. It also matched the Bonnies’ latest start to a season since the 1971-’72 campaign, when they began the year on Dec. 15 vs. DePaul.
