Final Score: St. Bonaventure 80, Delaware 73

Location: Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center – St. Bonaventure, N.Y.

Records: St. Bonaventure 9-4 | Delaware 6-7

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

Social Media Recap

The Short Story:
Behind a strong defensive effort and efficient offense, St. Bonaventure defeated Delaware 80-73 on Monday in the Reilly Center. The Bonnies jumped out quickly and led 40-28 at halftime. The lead grew as large as 16 points by the middle of the second half and while Delaware did make a late run, the Bonnies had answers on both ends of the floor.
Matthew Wright enjoyed his best game since before his Dec. 7 ankle injury, scoring 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting. Youssou Ndoye had 15 points and six rebounds but also made an impact defensively with a career high six blocks. Dion Wright, Jordan Gathers and Andell Cumberbatch all added eight points on the night.
At 9-4, Bonnies have now tied their best non-conference win total under Mark Schmidt, set in 2008.

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

How It Happened:

• St. Bonaventure jumped out to a 13-5 lead as Matthew Wright scored seven of the Bonnies' first 13 points.
• Chris Dees hit back-to-back buckets to give the Bonnies a 20-9 lead over the Blue Hens with 9:41 left in the half.
• Marquise Simmons laid in a basket off a feed from Jordan Gathers with 6:23 to put the Bonnies ahead 27-17.
• Delaware pulled to within 30-22, but the Bonnies answered with an 8-2 run capped by a Dion Wright layup to push the lead to 38-24 with two minutes left before the break.
• St. Bonaventure, which shot 16-32 (50%) from the field and committed only four turnovers in the first half, entered halftime with a 40-28 lead – its second largest halftime advantage this season.
• Facing the Bonnies' changing, aggressive defenses, Delaware shot just 12-39 (30 percent) in the first half.
• Youssou Ndoye scored an easy bucket off a Charlon Kloof feed with 13:33 left to make it a 53-43 game.
• It was a 55-47 game after the Blue Hens' Kyle Anderson connected on a three-pointer, but St. Bonaventure then scored eight unanswered points to make it 63-47 with 8:57 to play.
• The lead remained at least 10 points until Anderson hit another three-pointer to draw Delaware within seven at 73-66 with 2:54 left.
• The Bonnies did not score on their ensuing possession, and Delaware had a chance to draw even closer, but after a missed shot, Charlon Kloof grabbed the defensive rebound with 1:17 remaining and, while prone on the floor, made a heads-up timeout call.
• With 39 seconds left, Matthew Wright rebounded a Gathers miss and made an off-balance, put-back layup to make it 75-66 and essentially seal the win.
• Youssou Ndoye capped his night with a dunk with four seconds left, and the Bonnies were able to celebrate their ninth win of the season.
• The Bonnies' defense, which had not been as strong the past three games, shone against Delaware.  The Blue Hens shot only 38 percent from the field overall, including 8-24 from long range – a figure that was offset by Anderson going 7-12 from three-point land. 

Beyond the Box Score:

• St. Bonaventure recorded a season high 23 assists on its 34 field goals.
• Charlon Kloof, Jordan Gathers and Andell Cumberbatch all tied their season highs in assists with seven, five and five, respectively. 
• Youssou Ndoye set a new career high in blocked shots with six; his previous best was five against Bethune-Cookman in November 2012. He also tied his career high with his seven field goals.
• St. Bonaventure has held all five of its home opponents under 40 percent shooting and, not coincidentally, the Bonnies are 5-0 at the Reilly Center.
• The holiday attendance – minus the students who continue their Christmas break - was 3,689.
• For the second game in a row, Kloof played all 40 minutes.

Up Next: St. Bonaventure continues its three-game home stand when Cornell visits the RC on Saturday, Jan. 4. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will air on NBC Sports Network.

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