Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The freshman scored 10 points and added four assists in 22 minutes and, most importantly, helped spearhead a defense that held Georgia Tech to only 21 second-half points. Early in the second half of that game, an elbow to the face handed Colson a bloody nose and knocked a contact lens out of his eye. With blood on his face, he briefly returned to the Irish bench so athletic trainer Skip Meyer could stop the bleeding. Moments later, Colson re-entered the game. "I couldn't really see," Colson said. "I just took one for the team and moved on from it." The rest of the season, Colson's coach and teammates discussed how that gritty moment inspired them in an eventual 62-59 win in Atlanta. "I didn't want to go out there and be bullied," Colson said. "I would sacri- fice my body for the team. It was just a good feeling to be out there on the court." A couple weeks later, when top-10 Duke came to Purcell Pavilion, Brey joked with his freshman to relax his HIDDEN GEM Freshman forward Bonzie Colson has provided a spark for the Irish BY ANDREW OWENS N ot until Notre Dame was desperate did it realize the value it had in freshman forward Bonzie Colson. In early January, a strong start to the season was threat- ened by forward Zach Auguste's one-game academic suspension that for a time carried with it a shadow of doubt surrounding the junior's return. At 3-1 in league play but without its starting forward, Notre Dame traveled to Georgia Tech. The Irish had required two over- times to top the Yellow Jackets in South Bend just two weeks prior. Head coach Mike Brey's squad fell behind by double digits and freshman Martin Geben continued to struggle on both ends of the floor. To try to stabilize the defense, Brey inserted Colson into the game and never looked back the remainder of the season.