RICHMOND, Va. – Frank Mitchell and Buddy Simmons II scored 24 and 22 points, respectively, as the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team dropped its Atlantic 10 opener to VCU, 89-82, on Wednesday (Dec. 31) at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.
Mitchell shot 10-of-18 from the field and added seven boards to his Atlantic-10-leading rebound total. Simmons II added a career-best seven assists while shooting 9-for-16 from the field and 4-for-5 from three.
Cayden Charles tallied 14 points, six rebounds and three assists while
Dasonte Bowen scored 11 points, reaching double figures for the seventh time in his last eight games.
FIRST HALF
The Bonnies (11-3, 0-1 A-10) landed the first blow in a back-and-forth first half, taking a quick 9-2 lead at the 16:58 mark behind a 7-0 run. VCU (10-4, 1-0 A-10) answered immediately with a 9-0 run of its own, taking back the lead in under two minutes.
The teams traded leads throughout the first half before a 10-2 VCU run with 3:35 before the break gave the Rams a 44-35 lead. St. Bonaventure had an answer before halftime, outscoring the Rams 10-2 in the closing minutes of the half. Mitchell scored six consecutive points during the spurt.
St. Bonaventure trailed at the half, 46-45. The teams tallied seven lead changes and four ties throughout the first half, each leading for roughly eight-and-a-half minutes of game time.
SECOND HALF
After VCU scored the first bucket of the second half, St. Bonaventure tied the game at 48 behind a three-pointer from Simmons II. The Rams scored the next six points, but the Bonnies answered with a 9-2 run to take a 57-56 lead with 14:29 to play.
With 9:43 remaining and the Bonnies leading by one, Mitchell went on another personal 6-0 run, giving St. Bonaventure a seven-point lead, tied for its largest of the game.
Over the next eight minutes, the Bonnies converted just one shot attempt from the field: a
Cayden Charles layup with 6:38 remaining. VCU outscored St. Bonaventure 23-6 during the cold stretch, taking an insurmountable lead. Simmons II made a three-pointer with under 10 seconds to play, bringing the final score to 89-82 in favor of VCU.
"On the road, you don't have to play perfect, but you have to play really well," St. Bonaventure coach
Mark Schmidt said. "I thought we really played well for the first 35 minutes, and then we just had some plays that we really have to get better at."
UP NEXT
The Bonnies will return to the Reilly Center next Wednesday (Jan. 7) to face Richmond. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET, and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
NOTES
- Frank Mitchell has reached double figures in all 14 of St. Bonaventure's games. He has scored 20-or-more points in each of his last three.
- Cayden Charles has tallied at least 12 points and six rebounds in seven of the Bonnies' 14 games.
- Buddy Simmons II's seven assists were the most by a St. Bonaventure player other than Dasonte Bowen this season.
- Simmons II played all 40 minutes. It is the third game this season in which he has played 40-or-more minutes.
- The Bonnies made 60 percent (6-of-10) of their three-point attempts for the first time since the 2023-24 season (W vs. Fordham, Feb. 14 2024).
