Presbyterian Game Recap

In the end, the Bonnies got the two wins they were expected to get. They didn’t come as easily as expected, but they’re two games that we probably would have found a way to lose last season. That’s the sign of an improving team.

The epitome of improvement tonight – Tyler Relph. The senior finally showed glimpses of his former self as he netted a career-high 21 points on a career-high six 3-pointers. Coming into today Relph had made just two 3’s but exploded against the Blue Hose. And he exploded because he didn’t force his shot. He simply took the shots the Presbyterian defense allowed him – mostly from the top of the 3-point arc – and made wise decisions with the basketball. He didn’t turn the ball over once. He only had one assist but that was more a product of playing against the 2-3 zone where he didn’t need to make plays by himself like he would against the man-to-man. If Relph can keep this play up, Malcolm Eleby may not see very much time until next season. Relph deserved the start today and did nothing but improve his chances of seeing the starting lineup the rest of the season.

It’s early, but if Michael Lee can keep up his play he will find himself on the A-10 First Team without a doubt. He scored 21 points today, his fourth 20-point effort in five games. Lee also reached the 1,000 point plateau for his career with a 3 from the left baseline early in the second half. While he only grabbed four rebounds, he had the support of D’Lancy Carter who also showed glimpses of the player he can be. He grabbed 10 rebounds and scored eight points. Granted it was against a smaller front line than what he’ll see the rest of the year, but he made a few nice moves in the low blocks that have to be encouraging if nothing else.

Z was Z. That’s all you can say about him. He’s either going to take 25 shots to score 20 points or just 10 shots to score 20, but you know he’s going to be around the 20-point area. He’s also absolutely money from the free throw line. In the final 1:30 of the game, he went 6-for-6 from the line and helped the Bonnies put the game away. He’ll be criticized at times for taking rushed, hurried and off-balance shots, but in the end he’s going to get his points and you’d rather have him on your team than not.

One area where you have to feel better about this team from a year ago is the free-throw shooting. Last year it shot 67 percent from the charity stripe but so far this year the Bonnies have connected on 82 percent of their trips to the line. While they only shot 73 percent today, they hit them when they mattered down the stretch – nine of 11 in the game’s final 1:30.

The Bonnies will get back into Olean tomorrow and will have a week to prepare for Eastern Michigan Saturday at 4 p.m. at the RC. The Eagles are 1-2 this season, including a 19-point loss at home to Brown and a 15-point loss on the road to Oakland. Again, this is another game the Bonnies should win but it won’t be easy. The students are on break for Thanksgiving so the Wolfpack will be thin at best.

The Bonnies got what I’m sure they expected and what most fans expected from this trip. That is encouraging because it means we’re not going backward. We would not have won two games here last season but we found a way to win and Schmidt deserves a lot of the credit.

--Jason MacBain, Advisory Editor