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ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure (6-3) scored a season-high 87 points, shot a season-best 54 percent from the floor and led by double figures for nearly 30 minutes Saturday afternoon in a blowout victory over visiting Cleveland State, 87-53, at the Reilly Center.
Senior Demitrius Conger recorded his second double-double of the season with a team-leading 15 points and 11 rebounds to pace a well-balanced SBU offensive attack. Eleven of the 12 Bona players who logged game action scored, and the 34-point win came with leading scorer Chris Johnson tallying a season-low two points.
Junior Charlon Kloof netted a season-high 14 points, sophomore center Youssou Ndoye tallied a career-establishing 13 points and senior Eric Mosley pitched in with 10 to complete a quartet of SBU double-figure scorers for the fifth time this year.
The Bonnies came out firing right from the opening tip on both sides of the ball, leading by double figures just more than six minutes in, 14-3, following a Jordan Gathers 3-pointer. The lead blossomed to 20, 33-13, following a pair of Mosley free throws and grew to as much as 25 in the first half, 40-15, after a Mosley 3 at the 2:53 mark.
Kloof served as the catalyst for the hot start, setting his season high in points (12) not even 12 minutes into the game. Nine of those 12 points came from beyond the arc as the South American product tied a career high and set a season-best mark by knocking down three 3-pointers.
During the explosive first half, SBU produced scoring runs of 5-0 or better on five different occasions. It started at the defensive end as the Bonnies held the Vikings (6-4) to just 30.4-percent shooting from the floor (7-23) in the first half and 33.3 percent for the game (16-48). CSU came into the contest averaging more than seven 3-pointers a game, but connected on just 2-of-10 attempts from beyond the arc against the Bonnies.
The 34-point margin of victory is the most since Bonaventure defeated Fordham by 44 points last season, 95-51. It's also tied for the largest margin of victory in series history as SBU defeated CSU, 114-80, on Jan. 21, 1976. The Bonnies led by as much as 40, 77-37, with 6:14 left in the game, and remained perfect at home this year (4-0).
Redshirt senior Michael Davenport had a breakout game for the Bonnies as he set season highs in points with nine and rebounds with three. To go along with his career-high point total, 7-footer Ndoye also snatched a career-best three steals, made a career-most seven free throws (7-8) and tied a season high by corralling seven rebounds.
Freshman Dion Wright came off the bench to play 12 minutes and efficiently produced a season-best nine points, including a 3-pointer. The California native also connected on the first two free throws of his young career.
For the first time this year, everyone on the Bona roster played in a game, including freshman Jean Yves Toupane and walk-on Danny Farrell. Toupane played five minutes and scored his first collegiate points on a lay-up, while Farrell played two minutes and missed his only 3-point attempt.
Bonaventure held a 48-26 halftime lead after scoring six points in the final three seconds of the first half. Mosley connected on a jumper with 2.6 seconds left, and Marquise Simmons was fouled in the process. Simmons knocked down two free throws, and then Matthew Wright hit a jumper at the buzzer after Davenport stole the inbounds pass. The 48 first-half points are the most in an opening stanza by the Bonnies this year, and tied for the most in any half this season. SBU also shot a season-best 61.5 percent (16-26) in the first half.
Cleveland State, which was without two starters, was led at the offensive end by Bryn Forbes with 12 points, and Aaron Scales contributed 10 to finish as the lone other Viking in double figures. Marlin Mason nearly recorded a double-double, but ended up one point shy with nine points and a team-best 11 rebounds.
St. Bonaventure returns to action when it remains at home on Wednesday against Citadel. The military college based in South Carolina will face the Bonnies for the first time. A special $10 ticket will be released if @Go_Bonnies can reach 4,000 Twitter followers prior to the game. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. from Bob Lanier Court.
GAME NOTES: With his third rebound of the afternoon, Conger grabbed the 500th carom of his career … Gathers finished with three points and three assists, while Matthew Wright netted six … 46 points came from the Bonaventure bench, the most of the season … SBU also produced a season-high 26 points off Cleveland State's 20 turnovers … Bona shot 86.4 percent from the free-throw line (19-22) and 50 percent from 3-point range (8-16) … the loss keeps CSU head coach Gary Waters stuck on 299 career wins … Conger also issued a game-high four assists, more than CSU's entire team as the Vikings had just three.