The Bonnies play for the final time in the RC in 2023 as Binghamton comes to town. The Bearcats enter tonight winners of three straight and four of the last five games, while the Bonnies had won five straight games before its defeat against FAU last weekend. St. Bonaventure leads the all-time series with Binghamton winning five of the previous six matchups. That includes a perfect 3-0 mark inside the Reilly Center. This is everything you need to know for this evening’s game.
The Bonnies
Bonas comes into tonight’s game sitting at 7-3 overall. The team has played its way to a 4-1 home record this season with the only loss coming at the hands of Little Three rival Canisius. The Bonnies fell slightly in both the NET and Kenpom rankings following Saturday’s loss to nationally ranked Florida Atlantic. The team now sits 79th in the NET and 83rd in Kenpom.
Mika Adams-Woods continues to lead the Bonnies as his 15.3 points per game average tops the roster. Chad Venning and Charles Pride are the other players that average double figures with 13.6 and 11.9 points per game respectively. Pride also leads the team in rebounding as he grabs 6.3 boards per game while Venning has hauled in 4.3 per contest.
Moses Flowers and Daryl Banks are both close to cracking double-digit scoring averages as Flowers scores 9.3 and Banks scores 9.1 points per game. Flowers has proven to be Mark Schmidt’s most valuable piece off the bench this season. Assa Essamvous has also been impactful as he continues to close in on the team lead in rebounding as he averages 5.9 boards and 7.4 points per appearance.
Noel Brown and Barry Evans continue to make an impact off the bench as well. Brown has been producing at a 6.2 points per game clip while Evans has averaged 5.6 rebounds per contest. Kyrell Luc has continued to appear when healthy but has not seen many minutes over the past few games. There are no players listed on Bonaventure’s injury report.
Projected Starting Five: Assa, Adams-Woods, Banks III, Pride, Venning
The Opponent
Binghamton enters tonight’s contest with a 7-4 record. The Bearcats have been perfect at home but have struggled playing up to road competition as the team sits 2-4 away from home. Those road losses have come to Northwestern, Pitt, Colgate and Sacred Heart. Some notable wins for head coach Levell Sanders’ squad include an 82-49 win against Marist Colelge and 74-69 victory over Niagara.
The Bearcats are led by junior guard Tymu Chenery. The 6-foot-6, Quinnipiac transfer averages a team-high 14.6 points per game while grabbing a respectable 4.5 rebounds in each contest. Dan Petcash and Symir Torrence fill out Binghamton’s top three scorers. Petcash, a 6-foot-4 grad student, averages an even 10.0 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Torrence, a 6-foot-3 grad student and Syracuse transfer, scores 9.9 points and grabs a team-high 6.2 rebounds per contest.
The Bearcats have a balanced offensive attack with six players averaging at least 8.2 points per game. Binghamton also crashes the glass as a team as six players average more than four rebounds per game with seven averaging at least 3.8 per appearance. The team averages more than 10 offense boards each time they take the court.
Nehemiah Benson, Armon Harried and Tariq Balogun will also be heavily involved in the Bearcat scheme. Benson, a 6-foot-7 forward, and Harried, a 6-foot-5 guard, both average just over nine points and just under five rebounds per game. Balogun slots in as the team’s center. At 6-foot-10, 245 pounds, the senior from London, England scores 8.2 points and brings down 3.8 rebounds per game. Binghamton currently sits 241st in the Net Rankings and 274th in Kenpom.
Projected Starting Five: Tymu, Balogun, Harried, Petcash, Torrence
Players to Watch
Chad Venning – This has the makings of another monster game from Venning against a weaker opponent. The redshirt junior has taken advantage of inferior competition against teams like Niagara, Buffalo and Siena so far this seaosn. Balogun’s numbers certainly don’t jump off the stat sheet. I expect the 6-foot-10 center to score at least 15 points while playing plus-plus defense tonight.
Tymu Chenery – Chenery is Binghamton’s leading scorer at 14.6 points per game. He has started each of the Bearcats’ 11 games and leads the team in three-point field goals. He also leads the team in blocks with 22 and personal fouls taken with 32. It will be interesting to see how Schmidt counters the 6-foot-6, 195-pound guard. While I would not be surprised to see Pride guarding Chenery, I would love to see how Assa would do on the dynamic playmaker.
Prediction and Keys to the Game
This evening’s game should be straight forward for St. Bonaventure: beat the pulp out of an inferior opponent. The main keys to this game will be winning the rebound battle and feeding Venning down low. While the Bearcats may not have an answer for Venning, the average team height gives Binghamton the advantage on the glass. Also look for Pride and Adams-Woods to have their usual takeovers once the game gets going. Bonnies win tonight’s contest by 13-17 points.
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