St. Bonaventure Basketball: Conger's Career Night Hands Cornell First Home Loss

St. Bonaventure's box score usually has one player with a 20-point, 10-rebound performance.

Friday's game at Cornell was no different, except maybe the name next to it.

Demetrius Conger.

Not All-Atlantic-10 Conference Preseason first-team selection Andrew Nicholson.

But Demetrius Conger, a sophomore guard who mustered up 4.5 points and rebounds per game prior to Friday's 56-54 victory.

But then you remember the lanky, uber-athletic 6'6" guard that effortlessly slammed a 360-degree dunk in warm ups back in the Nov. 5 home opener.

Then you remember Coach Mark Schmidt and his staff talking about Conger as a potential player being a No. 2 scoring option after senior point guard Ogo Adegboye graduates.

So should a career-high 22-point, 14-rebound performance on 8-of-11 shooting, against a team that went to last year's Sweet 16 (though a drastically different and less-talented shell of it), really surprise anyone?

Not surprise as in shocked, but the Bonnies faithful should be pleasantly surprised that this may be the start of Conger's athleticism converting to basketball talent.

But another underlying storyline came from this game, pleasantly surprising Coach Schmidt. 

The Bonnies trailed the Big Red by seven with 9:01 left in the game. Nicholson also went to the bench with four fouls.

But then Cornell's Anthony Gatlin misses two free throws. Dwight Tarwater misses a three. Errick Peck misses a layup.

Bonaventure responds with Adegboye hitting two free throws. So does Da'Quan Cook. Michael Davenport shows up big with four free throws with two rebounds and steals.

In a blink of an eye, a Nicholson-less Bonaventure (2-1) had a 45-44 lead and kept Cornell (2-2) without a basket until Max Groebe's layup with 4:47 left. 

And when the Bonnies trailed by two with less than a minute, it wasn't Nicholson that saved them.

Conger converted a three with 47 seconds left after he fought for an offensive rebound couple seconds before. 

Davenport's two free throws ended up being the game's winning points. 

Adegboye's block sealed the two-point victory.

Coach Schmidt needed a game like this—a game that showed his players firsthand how good they can be with or without Nicholson on the court.

Because this game came sooner than later, Schmidt can now get the most out of his players before the Jan. 8 A-10 opener at home.

In his post-game radio interview, first thing Schmidt mentioned was about the effort and heart his players gave Friday.

I have a feeling this won't be Conger's last 20-point, 10-rebound performance, either. I have a feeling Davenport could finish in A10's all-defensive first team by the end of the season. I have a feeling Nicholson will be double teamed less and may finish second on the team with assists as a result. 

But most importantly, I have a feeling Schmidt will say Friday's game could be the game that made this season into a success.

The success of Bonnies winning multiple games at the A10 Tournament instead of one like last season that is.