Final Score: St. Bonaventure 67, UMass-Lowell 58

Location: Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center

Records: St. Bonaventure 6-2  |  UMass-Lowell 1-7

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

Social Media Recap

The Short Story: It wasn't an offensive night to remember, but St. Bonaventure picked up its sixth win of the year on Tuesday, defeating UMass-Lowell 67-58. Senior forward Marquise Simmons scored a team and career high 19 points to go with 11 rebounds while fellow senior Matthew Wright added 15 points and five assists. Andell Cumberbatch also attained a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

St. Bonaventure improved to 6-2, marking the first time since the 2001-02 season that a Bona team opened a year with that mark.

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

How It Happened:

• Matthew Wright slammed home a baseline drive dunk to make it a 11-6 Bonnie lead with 14:40 left in the half.
• Charlon Kloof hit a cutting Marquise Simmons for a fast break lay up to make it a 22-16 lead for the Bonnies with 9:31 left in the first.
• Dion Wright made the score 31-23 Bonnies on a dribble drive lay-up, but UMass-Lowell ended the first half on a 13-2 run to take a 34-31 lead at halftime
• The Bonnies entered intermission shooting just 22.2% (8-36) from the floor including 1-12 from three-point range.
• St. Bonaventure regrouped at halftime and came out of the gates quickly, opening the second half by making five of its first six shots, the first two by Andell Cumberbatch. The Bonnies' 10-3 run gave them a six point lead (43-37) with 15:29 left.
• St. Bonaventure's defense carried it through its second half offensive lulls, as the Riverhawks connected on just seven field goals in 26 shots in the second half.  UMass-Lowell scored only 12 points in the paint in the game.
• Matthew Wright's feed to Cumberbatch for a lay-up pushed the Bonnies' lead to 51-46 with 9:23 left.
• It was just a three-point game at 51-48 when UMass-Lowell's Tyler Livingston scored off a Bona turnover with 8:46 remaining.
• After Livingston's score, the Bonnies scored the next nine points in a run that essentially decided the game. Cumberbatch's pair of free throws made it 60-48 at the 3:27 mark.
• A Marquise Simmons dunk gave Bona a 66-55 lead with a minute left and clinched the win.
• St. Bonaventure made 14 of its 19 free throws in the second half, and 28-34 (.824) at the line for the night.
• The Bonnies went 11-21 from the field in the second half (.524).
• Simmons' double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds is his first this season and third of his career.   His previous career high in points was 18 against LaSalle in 2011.
• Cumberbatch recorded the first double-double of his young SBU career.
• Thanks in large part to Simmons and Cumberbatch, the Bonnies enjoyed 46-30 advantage in rebounds, their top rebounding performance this season in total boards.

Beyond the Box Score:

• Bonnies are 6-2 for first time since the 2001-02 season.
• St. Bonaventure is now 4-0 at home.
• The win was the first for the Bonnies this season when they trailed at halftime and their first win when shooting less than 40 percent for the game.
• Jordan Gathers sat out the game due to a non-serious leg injury.

Quotes from Head Coach Mark Schmidt:

• "I thought our offense affected our defense in the first half … they shot 5 of 8 on threes. Give them credit. We knew going into the game they were tied at halftime against Michigan, they were down two at Rhode Island ... we knew it was going to be a hard fought game."
• "At halftime we talked a little bit, came out and had more energy. Marquise played really well … I thought he was the difference in the game."
• "Every season there's a game like this. Normally when you play poorly for 20 minutes, you come out on the losing end, but somehow someway we found a way and that was a positive."