NORMAL, Ill. - Take a look at all of the offensive statistics and you would swear the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team won the game.

The Bonnies, who came into their third game in as many days leading the country in field goal percentage, shot an even 50 percent, knocked down 10-for-17 from the 3-point line and had six more field goals than their counterparts.

Take another look and you’ll see why they came out on the losing end. In fact, you couldn’t miss it. There it is, in black and white: St. Bonaventure 11-of-15 from the line, Illinois State 27-of-41.

And when it was over, it was the host team Redbirds who owned an 80-77 triumph over the Bonnies in the championship game of the BTI Classic on Sunday afternoon at Redbird Arena.

Osiris Eldridge, the preseason Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, had plenty to do with the victory. The 6-3 guard poured in 28 points, including six 3-pointers, and seemed to hit a big shot every time Illinois State needed one.

But the difference in the game was at the free throw line, where the Redbirds had three times as many attempts than the Bonnies, including a numbing 32 tries (with 20 makes) in the second half.

St. Bonaventure (4-2) was whistled for 29 fouls to Illinois State’s 16. Three different Bonnies fouled out, but none more important than Andrew Nicholson, who was limited to just two points and three rebounds in only 15 minutes of action. Two others had four fouls. The frontcourt itself was whistled 15 times on the day.

The gruesome final numbers were not lost on a visibly upset Mark Schmidt after the game.

“I thought Eldridge was the difference in the game … and foul shooting,” the third-year coach managed. “Getting outscored from the free throw line 27-11 is tough. Eldridge played really, really well.

“I thought our guys fought right to the bitter end. We gave ourselves a chance shooting 58 percent from the 3-point line. We did what we needed to do. We just couldn’t stop Eldridge and we got outscored at the free throw line by 16.”

Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich - whose team went 3-0 in the tournament and improved to 6-0 this season - couldn’t recall a game in which one team did so well offensively and lost.

“I can’t remember any games ever … I’ll bet this is the first game I’ve ever been involved in, in my life, where the opposing team shot 50 percent from the field, 58 percent from the 3-point line and 73 percent from the line, and lost.

“To me, that just goes to a great effort, a great group effort, and just tenacity and want-to is why I think we won this game tonight. And to me, there’s no more satisfying wins then those types.”

The loss overshadowed what was arguably the best game of Chris Matthews’ career. The senior guard tied a career-high with 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting, tied a school record eight 3-pointers, and almost single-handedly kept St. Bonaventure in the game despite all the foul trouble.

The Washington State transfer finished the three-day tournament an other-worldly 18-for-30 from 3-point range and was an all-tournament team selection for his efforts.

“Chris played really well,” Schmidt said. “He shot the heck out of the basketball. He kept us in the game. He hit some big shots. We need him to continue to play like that.”

Said Matthews, “My teammates were getting me in a good position to shoot the ball, so every time I got to open spots, my teammates would get me the ball, so I was focusing on taking my time and making the shot.”

Malcolm Eleby, who matched career marks of 14 points and nine rebounds, hit a 3-pointer just before the first half buzzer to give the Bonnies a 39-37 advantage at the break. The Redbirds answered with an 11-2 run to start the second half, building up a lead they would never relinquish.

Nicholson, also an all-tournament selection, picked up his third foul at the 16:09 mark of the second half. His fourth came less than a minute later on off-the ball whistle, while his fifth came with 6:27 still to play.

Illinois State took advantage of Nicholson’s absence inside, outscoring the Bonnies, 24-20, in the paint, while collecting key offensive rebounds and drawing all those fouls. Jackie Carmichael made the most of the opportunity, registering 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Redbirds.

“It’s difficult,” Schmidt said, “but it’s the way the game was refereed and that’s the way it goes. We’ve got to fight. I thought our guys didn’t give up. They continued to work at it and we had a chance at the end to tie the game.”

Indeed, Bona threatened at the end. An Ogo Adegboye basket made it 80-77 with four seconds remaining. Lloyd Phillips missed the ensuing free throws, but a potential game-winning 3 was stripped from Jonathan Hall’s hands as the final buzzer sounded.

Hall added 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting for the Bonnies, who took second place in the tournament and snapped a three-game winning streak.

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reader 1 wrote on Nov 30, 2009 6:59 PM:

" outscored at the line yes,,,but,,,look at the points off turnovers 23 fo them 10 for us,,,that is what lost the game and it is not even mentioned in the article! You can't do anything about the way they called the game,,,but,,,you can certainly protect the ball better!! "

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