ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team desperately needed a spark. And before it became the Jaren Holmes show, Jalen Adaway was the one who provided it.
The junior forward finished a layup at the 7:31 mark of the first half to end a nearly eight-minute stretch without a field goal. He fueled a strong finish to the frame, collecting 10 points in a 15-2 run that helped the Bonnies go from down seven to up six (32-26) just before halftime. And by the end of this 82-57 thrashing of Saint Joe’s, he’d had his best game in a collegiate uniform.
Adaway totaled a career-high 24 points on a stellar 11-of-12 shooting, seven rebounds, and four assists, all season-bests. On any other occasion, this would have been his night … and his alone.
The Miami (Ohio) transfer was more than happy, though, to yield the limelight to Holmes, who wound up pouring in 38. He’s becoming more comfortable as an Atlantic 10 player. And Bona has begun to find itself as a team.
And that, to him, is what matters as Bona (4-1, 2-1) turns its attention to tomorrow’s game with George Washington (noon, NBC Sports-TV, WPIG-FM, WHDL-AM) inside the Reilly Center.
“All of us have just been putting in the work, and we know how talented we are,” he said after Wednesday’s triumph. “The biggest thing from this point is just not stopping, continuing to work, that’s what we have to do. I’m glad it showed tonight, and we’re looking forward to (George Washington); we hope to get that game too.”
FOR MUCH of the offseason, coach Mark Schmidt insisted that, in Adaway, Bona was getting a strong complementary piece.
Over time, he’s steadily becoming just that.
Aside from one instance, Adaway has increased his scoring output every time out. He’s been efficient in limited chances, and after Wednesday’s 11-of-12 effort, now leads the league in field goal percentage at an incredible .722 (26-of-36). He’s also given Bona a fifth starter in double figures at 11.6 points a night.
More than that, he does the things that go a long way with Schmidt: he defends, rebounds, understands the system and plays within himself … all in the role of a co-captain. And that all culminated with his breakout effort against the Hawks
“For sure,” he said, when asked if he’s begun to feel more settled. “(I’m) just trying to find my place within the offense, just consistently trying to build up that confidence to where I’m not second-guessing an open shot or making that right pass. I feel like I’m getting more comfortable and I’m glad we got that win tonight and I could contribute in a big way.”
ON SATURDAY, he and the Bonnies will look to build on that momentum against the Colonials.
Much like Saint Joe’s, George Washington (3-7, 2-1) is still trying to find its way under a second-year coach, Jamion Christian. And like Joe’s, the Colonials have struggled some out of the gate, but have still proven to be a cause for concern.
GW went 1-6 against a middling non-conference schedule, with four of those losses coming by three points or fewer, including a pair of one-point decisions to William & Mary (85-84, OT) and Charlotte (66-65). It then opened A-10 play by hammering Fordham (71-47) and splitting a pair of games on back-to-back days with Duquesne, pulling out a 75-73 triumph on Day 2.
Christian’s team is talented offensively, currently boasting the league’s second- and third-leading scorers in 6-foot-2 guard James Bishop (19.7 points, 6 assists) and 6-foot-7 forward Jamison Battle (18.4 points), the latter of whom ranks third in the A-10 in 3-pointers (25, 2.5 per game). Battle, an All-Rookie Team selection in 2019-20, went for 20 and 13 in two meetings with the Bonnies last winter.
The Colonials, picked to finish 11th in the league’s preseason poll, a spot in front of the Hawks, also have a double-double guy and one of the A-10’s top rebounders in forward Matthew Moyer (10.6, 10.1).
FOR BONA, though, the expectation will be to handle business on its home court and make it a season-best three-straight wins. This is an opponent, with much the same makeup, that it beat twice last season, including a 72-47 shellacking in the RC. It’s one that is now also without starting point guard Jameer Nelson Jr. (son of the former Joe’s star), a budding standout who left the program before A-10 play.
(Another former double-digit scorer, Buffalo native Maceo Jack, who poured in 28 on Bona in 2019, also recently left the program and announced his intention Thursday to play his final season at UB).
The Bonnies have seemingly turned a corner in the last week, knocking off the league’s preseason favorite, Richmond, on the road, before beating its next foe by 26. To Schmidt, though, Bona still has a long way to go.
“It’s still early,” he pointed out. “Rotations still have to be worked out, guys have to accept their roles that they have. You win and be competitive in the Atlantic 10 by protecting your home court and trying to steal some on the road. We’ve stolen one on the road and we protected our house one time; we’ve got many more times we have to protect our house, and we’ve got to steal some on the road.
“We’re still a work in progress. There were times we looked good (against Joe’s 2-3 zone) and there were times that we looked like we hadn’t practiced against it. So we’ve still got a long way to go.”
