Painstaking loss for hobbled Minutemen

OLEAN, N.Y. -- With one of the youngest lineups in the Atlantic 10, injuries could spell doom for the Massachusetts Minutemen.

It did last night at the Reilly Center.

With starting center Gabe Lee hobbled by a left ankle injury -- he had to leave the game twice -- and starting forward Jeff Viggiano out with a charley horse he suffered Monday, the bench couldn't pick up the slack as UMass fell to St. Bonaventure, 77-71, for its fifth straight loss.

"Tonight I'm out there with five first-year guys and Anthony Anderson most of the night," UMass coach Steve Lappas said.

Anderson picked up the slack, scoring a game-high 26 points.

But UMass (5-9, 0-3) couldn't overcome the absence of two starters. Lee's injury limited him to 24 minutes, and Viggiano was a game-time decision. Lappas did not have updates on the injuries. "Nobody knew [about Viggiano]," a visibly upset Anderson said. "That kind of hurt us. It made us a little smaller. Then Gabe got hurt and it's like what else can go wrong?"

Lappas played four guards in some instances. That helped St. Bonaventure (5-9, 1-2) gain a 37-32 rebounding advantage.

"We played a lot of the second half smaller than they were," Lappas said.

"They stand, they watch, they look at the rim before they go look where their man is," Lappas said of his young players.

"It was our defense and rebounding," Anderson said. "Same story all year."

Rashaun Freeman scored 19 points for UMass. Freshman Art Bowers, starting in place of Viggiano, and Lee each scored 8 points.

UMass shot 45.6 percent for the game, and St. Bonaventure shot a season-high 45.8 percent.

One defensive strategy did work for UMass. Lappas played a box-and-one on Marques Green, one of the best players in the nation. The diminutive point guard, who entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring (24.1 points per game), scored only 15.

After hitting a 3-pointer 4:49 into the game for his eighth point, Green didn't score again until midway through the second half. He also didn't have any steals.

"That's disappointing," Lappas said. "We did a great job defensively on Marques, who's a great player. He hasn't had too many games like this."

St. Bonaventure coach Anthony Solomon thought Lappas would employ a strategy against Green.

"We spent yesterday practicing and anticipating UMass to use a box-and-one and taking Marques Green out," he said. "Other players have to be able to make plays."

"We knew coming into the game that if we held him under 20 we would have a good chance of winning," Freeman said. "Some of their other players stepped up and played big and we didn't guard them well."

With the game tied at 35 at halftime, Patrick Lottin keyed an early 17-6 run in the second half with 8 points on two 3-pointers for the Bonnies.

He finished with a team-high 22 points. Ahmad Smith scored 17 points and with a team-high seven rebounds, helping the Bonnies break a five-game losing streak. Maurice Young and Kern Carter each scored 9 points.

St. Bonaventure led, 67-59, with less than seven minutes left. When Bowers's 3-pointer with 3:10 left got the Minutemen to within 67-64, Lottin responded with a quick basket.

After Saulius Dumbliauskas hit two free throws, Anderson's 3-pointer with 1:35 left made it 71-64.

Green hit two free throws after another Bowers basket made it 73-69. After holding the Bonnies, Bowers missed the next time up the floor. Smith then hit two free throws with 10 seconds left to seal the game.

Anderson scored 18 first-half points on the strength of four 3-pointers.

But the senior guard only mustered 8 points in the second half. Anderson also led the Minutemen with eight rebounds.