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Men's Basketball

@BonniesMBB Top Wagner To Advance To Gulf Coast Showcase Championship Game

Final Score: St. Bonaventure 70, Wagner 67

Location: Germain Arena, Estero, Fla.

Records: St. Bonaventure 5-1; Wagner 4-3

Box Score (PDF)  |  Final Stats and Play-by-Play

St. Bonaventure Starters: #3 Charlon Kloof, #24 Matthew Wright, #23 Andell Cumberbatch, #33 Marquise Simmons, #35 Youssou Ndoye 

The Short Story: St. Bonaventure defeated Wagner 70-67 on Tuesday night to advance to the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.  The Bonnies jumped out quickly, holding Wagner without a field goal for nearly the first eight minutes, then held on for the win with critical defensive stops in the final minutes.

Matthew Wright led four Bonnies in double figures with 19 points. Youssou Ndoye had 12 points and eight rebounds, Andell Cumberbatch finished with 11 points highlighted by a crucial three-pointer late in the game, and Charlon Kloof had a strong all-around game with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The Bonnies will face Louisiana Tech in the final on Wednesday night at 8:30.

How it Happened:

  • St. Bonaventure jumped out quickly, scoring the first 14 points of the game. Andell Cumberbatch had six early points.
  • Defensive pressure keyed the Bonnies' early success as Wagner did not score until the 13:27 mark, a free throw, and its first field goal came at 12:52.
  • The Bonnies' biggest lead of the first half was 18 at 33-15.
  • Chris Dees and Xavier Smith came off the Bonnies' bench and contributed quality minutes. Dees scored six points in first half, while Smith had two points, two rebounds and blocked a shot in 13 minutes.
  • The Seahawks did climb back gradually, rallying behind Mario Moody's 13 points, but the Bonnies held Wagner to 38.5 percent (10-26) from the field in the first half.
  • St. Bonaventure's lead  was 43-31 lead at halftime.
  • The lead grew to 15 points at 48-33 before Wagner scored seven straight points to trim the Bonnies' lead to 48-40 at the 17:05 mark.
  • Charlon Kloof's breakaway dunk put the Bonnies ahead 53-42, but again the Seahawks rallied and cut it to a 53-48 game with 14:25 remaining.
  • Moody's layup made it a 57-55 game with 10:42 to play, then with 7:55 a three-pointer by Marcus Burton cut the Bonnies' lead down to one at 59-58.
  • It was a 63-61 Bona lead when Cumberbatch drained a three from in front of his own bench with 2:04 remaining to put Bonnies up by five.
  • Wagner again cut the Bonnies lead down to two on two more occasions, the last coming on a layup by Orlando Parker that made it 69-67 with 32 seconds left. Kloof was fouled on the ensuing possession and he made the first of two free throws.
  • Wagner called timeout with 16 seconds to play to set up its play. Both Jay Harris and Latif Rivers were able to shoot desperation three-pointers but neither found the mark.
  • Wagner wound up shooting 41.8 percent from the field on the game, while the Bonnies made 51.9 percent of their shots.
  • Free throws were not kind to the Bonnies as they missed 11 on the night (12-23).

Quotes from St. Bonaventure Coach Mark Schmidt

  • "It was important for us to get off to a good start and that's what we did. We played well right from the start and played a solid first half overall."
  • "We knew (Wagner) would make a run. They're a good team – they are picked to win the Northeast Conference and they have veteran players."
  • "Andell's three was a big shot at a critical time. We needed that and it gave us a lift."
  • "Louisiana Tech will be a big challenge. They're playing really well, scoring and shooting the three. We're happy to be in the position to play them for a championship."
  • "Coming here (to the Showcase) and winning games builds confidence. At the same time, we know we have a lot to improve upon. You can't be satisfied, and good teams improve every day."

Beyond the Box Score:

  • St. Bonaventure's 12 point halftime lead (43-31) was its largest advantage at an intermission this year.
  • Matthew Wright has 51 points in two Showcase games (25.5 points per game).
  • St. Bonaventure's 5-1 start equals the program's best since the 2009-10 team also opened 5-1.
  • Wednesday's championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase will be St. Bonaventure's first true tournament final appearance since the Paradise Jam in 2002.
  • St. Bonaventure's last in-season tournament title was the Sparkletts Invitational at Fresno State in 2000.

Up Next:Wednesday's championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase between the Bonnies and Louisiana Tech is slated for 8:30.

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