Published: November 29, 2007 01:42 am      

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Second-half surge helps Niagara downs St. Bonaventure

LEWISTON — Stanley Hodge did what he does best Wednesday night — exactly what his coach asked.

Visiting St. Bonaventure used a variety of zone defenses to inhibit Niagara’s offense in the first half, holding the Purple Eagles to 28 points on 11-of-39 shooting, including a dismal 3-for-19 effort from 3-point range.

Niagara coach Joe Mihalich told his team at the break they couldn’t have played any worse. Yet, Niagara trailed by just four points and, with an energized crowd of 2,183 to feed off, needed to go into attack mode to get its third win in as many starts at Taps Gallagher Center this season.

Both Mihalich and first-year Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt agreed that what transpired next led to Niagara winning its fifth-straight game in the storied rivalry, 80-75.

After Bonaventure’s Zarryon Fereti opened the half with a baseline dunk, the Purple Eagles went on a 12-0 run, spurred by Hodge, who answered Fereti’s play with a quick 3-pointer, rebounded the Bonnies’ next miss and hit a long 2-pointer. Hodge added a layup toward the end of the run.

“In the locker room we talked about forcing tempo,” Hodge said. “Their defense had us standing around in the first half. Basically we wanted to push the ball at them before they were able to set up.”

Hodge had his fourth straight solid game to open up the season. He finished with 14 points (on nine field goal attempts), five assists and four rebounds. Mihalich said he’s come to expect that type of play from the senior.

Niagara’s other senior, Charron Fisher, also had a typical performance, capping his game-high 26 points with a reverse slam in the final minutes.

Fisher added nine rebounds and three steals in 40 minutes, but again shot poorly, going 8-for-21 from the field and 2-for-9 from 3-point range.

The Purple Eagles (3-1) may not have expected Tyrone Lewis to miss eight of 10 shots from beyond the arc on his way to 14 points. Mihalich said a jammed finger affected Lewis’ release. He also had five rebounds and four assists.

Michael Lee led the Bonnies (3-4) with 21 points and 13 rebounds. He also had three assists, three blocks and two steals. Bonaventure was hurt most by its point guards, Tyler Relph and Malcon Eleby, who combined for 13 turnovers.

Lewis’ off night was made up for by breakout performances from Anthony Nelson and, especially, Benson Egemonye.

Nelson, a freshman didn’t score, but dished out a career-high 12 assists.

“I think Anthony sees the game in slow motion,” Mihalich said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he had 20 assists in a game.”

Would that kind of performance surprise Nelson?

“Not really,” he said. “Not at all.”

Egemonye ended up being the star of the night. He took advantage of holes in the Bonaventure zone to score 19 points, a personal best. He also was aggressive on the boards, grabbing five of his career-high eight rebounds on the offensive end.

“No one works harder,” Mihalich said. “He’s intense, he changed his body. He may not look it, but he gained 15 to 20 pounds over the summer. I couldn’t be happier for Benson to have a game like this and it’s something Benson can use as a springboard.”

Egemonye, who came in averaging 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds, said he had a talk with Hodge on Tuesday about getting the ball more. His 8-for-10 shooting performance, he said, was more indicative of him being open than having the hot hand.

Hodge, again channeling Mihalich’s words, summed up Egemonye’s game nicely.

“We asked him,” Hodge said, “to be the hammer and not the nail.”

Contact reporter Jonah Bronstein at 282-2311, ext. 2262.