Final Score: St. Bonaventure 102, Iona 89

Location: New Rochelle, N.Y. / Hynes Center

Records: St. Bonaventure 7-3 | Iona 5-3

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

The Short Story: St. Bonaventure jumped out early and never trailed in a decisive road win Saturday afternoon over Iona. The Bonnies scored 15 of the first 19 points of the afternoon, led 54-40 at halftime and withstood a final push by the Gaels. Four Bonnies scored in double figures led by Andell Cumberbatch with 25 points and Dion Wright with 22 - both career highs. Charlon Kloof had another superb game with 17 points and seven assists, while Jordan Gathers returned to the lineup after missing the last two games and scored 17 points. Marquise Simmons posted a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.

St. Bonaventure posted its first 100 point outing of the season despite playing without leading scorer Matthew Wright, who sat out with an ankle sprain.

St. Bonaventure Starters: #3 G Charlon Kloof, #23 G Andell Cumberbatch, #5 G Jordan Gathers, #33 F Marquise Simmons, #35 C Youssou Ndoye

How It Happened:

• St. Bonaventure was very effective on offense throughout the first half, and in particular they overcame some recent struggles with three-point shooting. Charlon Kloof, Dion Wright and Jordan Gathers all made three-pointers to help expand the Bonnies' lead to 17 points at 38-21 at the 7:39 mark.
• In the first half, the Bonnies made five of 10 three-point attempts.
• Iona cut the Bonnies' lead to 10 at 43-33 but St. Bonaventure responded with three straight field goals, capped by a slam by Jordan Gathers, to push the lead back to 49-33 with 3:32 left in the opening half.
• Andell Cumberbatch's two free throws made it a 54-40 game at halftime. Playing in front of a large contingent of family and friends, the East Orange, N.J., native scored 12 of his team-leading 25 points in the first half.
• In the second half, a 10-2 run that consisted of five points apiece from Dion Wright and Gathers made it a 23-point Bona lead at 79-56 with 10:57 remaining.
• Iona began to apply full-court pressure to try and chip away at the Bonnies' lead, and made a run that cut it down to a 10-point game at 89-79 with 4:19 left, but that was as close as the Gaels came.
• Gathers' three-pointer with 1:25 left pushed St. Bonaventure over the 100-point mark at 101-86 and sealed the win.
• St. Bonaventure finished 8-16 from three-point range, 36-66 (.545) from the field overall and 22-33 at the free throw line. The Bonnies' eight three-pointers were their second-most made this year only to the 10 they drained against Southern Illinois.
• The Bonnies held significant advantages in the key categories of rebounding (44-28), points in the paint (52-38), second chance points (19-5) and bench scoring (22-9).
• Kloof was again strong, finishing with 17 points and seven assists. His play led to the Bonnies having 18 assists against just 14 turnovers on the day.
• Marquise Simmons' double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds was his second this season and fourth of his career.
• In addition to his 22 points, Dion Wright also grabbed eight rebounds. He was 5-5 at the free throw line.

Beyond the Box Score:

• Jordan Gathers returned after missing the past two games due to a leg injury; he also returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the Siena game.
• The attendance was 2,019, which was impacted by a snowfall that arrived in the area early Saturday morning and continued throughout the afternoon. Still, there was a strong group of Bonnies fans on hand.
• Saturday was the first time a St. Bonaventure team scored 100 points in a road game since a 104-101 overtime loss at Ohio University on New Year's Eve 2002.

Up Next: St. Bonaventure travels to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face Wake Forest on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

Video highlights coming later.