Bonneau's 27 Points Lead Men's Basketball Past St. Michael's, 93-82
Box Score
EASTON, Mass. (Nov. 12, 2010) – Junior guard Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) exploded for 27 points in his Pioneer debut, shooting 8-for-14 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, as four players scored in double figures and the C.W. Post men's basketball team defeated St. Michael's College, 93-82, in the non-conference season opener for both teams on Friday evening in Merkert Gymnasium as part of the Stonehill College Tip-Off Classic.
The Pioneers improve to 1-0 while the Purple Knights begin their season at 0-1. The game marks the first season-opening win since 2008-2009.
Gil Montalvo (Astoria, N.Y.) opened the game with a layup at 19:47, and the two teams battled back and forth for the first three minutes of play, knotting the score twice at 5-5 and 7-7 (17:27). But St. Michael's pulled ahead as Travis Warech dropped in a layup and Michael Holton, Jr. swished a three pointer and the home team led 12-7. Both teams traded baskets, but another trey by Nate Birr put St. Michael's up 17-10, and the Purple Knights continued to keep their lead at seven points, with a 19-12 edge with 13:14 to play in the first.
But, the Pioneers, sparked by Bonneau subbing in off the bench, got a trey from senior #Aaron Hall# (Syracuse, N.Y.) with Bonneau dishing the assist, and then Hall returned the favor, assisting on Bonneau's trey, and just like that, the Pioneers were within one point, 19-18, with 12:36 remaining.
C.W. Post continued to pressure the Purple Knights offensively, behind Bonneau, who converted a layup at 11:04 to put the visitors ahead, 22-21. A dunk by freshman forward Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) followed at 10:49, putting the visitors ahead by three. Within three minutes, the Pioneers increase offensive tempo had the Pioneers up by eight points with just under eight minutes to play in the half. The C.W. Post lead fluctuated between four and eight points over the remaining minutes of the half, until a Warech layup cut the Pioneer lead to just three, 38-35, with 1:49 to play.
However, the Pioneers responded yet again with back-to-back three pointers by #Billy Butler# (Elmont, N.Y.) and Bonneau, and the C.W. Post lead was back to nine, and they took the nine-point advantage into the halftime break.
CWP came out of the half with the same intensity and quickly stretched its lead to 12-points as sophomore Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn.) converted a traditional three-point play and gave the Pioneers a 51-39 lead at 17:36.
The Pioneer lead averaged double digits for the next ten minutes, topping out at a 15-point advantage (63-48 at 13:23). The Purple Knights cut the lead to seven points with just over eight minutes remaining as Warech swished a three, but the visitors displayed resilience with a layup and a trey of their own and increased their lead back to 13 points with 5:38 left in the game.
St. Michael's would get no closer than nine points the remainder of the contest, as the Pioneers rolled through the final five minutes as they finished with an 11-point victory.
Bonneau's career night came as the junior guard hit three treys in addition to his perfect night at the line. He also added three steals. Allen contributed 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, and Carberry chipped in with 17 points while sophomore Jonathan Kohler (Bordentown, N.J.) scored 11 points and grabbed three steals. Butler and Montalvo added five assists each.
For St. Michael's, Warech scored a game-high 28 points, while also getting double figures from Holton with 17, Birr with 11, and Tyler Schilling with 10 points.
C.W. Post shot 51% from the floor (32-for-62) and went 21-of-27 from the free throw line for a 78% conversion rate. The visitors committed only 11 turnovers while scoring 36 points in the paint and 20 off of SMC turnovers. The biggest differential of the game was bench points, as the Pioneers held a 45-10 edge.
Head coach Chris Casey and the Pioneers return to action tomorrow in a matchup with last season's NE-10 champion, Stonehill College, at 3 p.m.