Play of big men disappointing at UMass

Coming into this season, the talk of the St. Bonaventure men's basketball program was the inside tandem of Paul Williams and Michael Lee. The pair adorned the cover of The Bona Venture basketball preview supplement, as well as other publications, and came into the season hyped as one of the best 1-2 combinations in the low post in the Atlantic 10.

In a season of inconsistent performances from the pair, however, none may have been more disappointing than Wednesday night's 83-44 throttling at the hands of Massachusetts in the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass. Williams and Lee went up against the real premier pair of big men in the conference, seniors Stephane Lasme and Rashaun Freeman, and proved to be a lot closer to duds than the studs they were expected to be this season.

As he always seems to do, Williams managed to put up solid numbers Wednesday night, dropping 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds. However, after being fourth in the A-10 in free throw percentage through the first 11 games of the season, Williams has gone 5-for-18 (28 percent) from the charity stripe over the last 60 minutes of action, including a dreadful 1-for-7 performance against the Minutemen.

While Williams at least put up some numbers against UMass, Lee simply failed to show up. The junior forward went a dismal 3-for-11 from the field, finishing the game with six points and two rebounds in 24 minutes. In a season full of up-and-down performances from the talented but inconsistent Lee, this ranked as one of his worst.

Meanwhile, Lasme and Freeman dominated the game. While they combined for just nine rebounds, they tore the Bonnies' big men apart on the offensive end, as each went 8-for-9 from the field. Lasme finished with 17 points, while Freeman ended up pouring in 16 for UMass.

A look at the combined statistics for the two big men for each team tells the story. For the Minutemen, Lasme and Freeman combined for 33 points on 16-for-18 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, two assists, three turnovers, a block and three steals. Williams and Lee, on the other hand, finished with 17 points on 8-for-22 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds, had no assists, six turnovers, no blocks and a single steal.

The Bonnies' big men, like the entire Bona squad, was blown away in practically every category by their counterparts for UMass. But the play of the big guys for each team was just one aspect of a game that was a mismatch from the beginning.

Tyler Relph, who is now needed more than ever to provide scoring punch with the dismissal of Zarryon Fereti, went just 0-for-3 from the field and beyond the 3-point line, finishing with no points. The Bonnies shot just 19-for-59 (32 percent) from the field, 1-for-13 (seven percent) from 3-point range and just 5-for-15 from the foul line. UMass, on the other hand, shot 33-for-62 from the field (53 percent), and while the Minutemen hit just three of 13 attempts from downtown, they made nearly as many free throws (14) as Bona attempted (15).

Wednesday's game can easily be summed up by saying that absolutely nothing went right for the Bonnies. But the real story of the game lies within the two big men in whom Bona banked its season on. You would think that going up against a combination like Lasme and Freeman, regarded as the best combination in the A-10 and one of the better duos in the country, would bring out the best in Williams and Lee. Instead, it just seemed to prove just how inadequate both players really are.

As a result, the Bonnies proved to be nothing more than a speed bump on the Minutemen's rise toward the top of the conference as they attempt to secure a top four seed and a bye in the conference tournament. For the Bonnies, it was just another loss, while they continue to hope that Richmond and La Salle punch Bona's ticket to Atlantic City for them.