Final Score: St. Bonaventure 81, Cornell 57

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

Records: St. Bonaventure 10-4 | Cornell 0-13

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

The Short Story:
Powered by another good defensive game and a season-high 10 three-pointers, St. Bonaventure defeated Cornell 81-57 on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies led 38-28 at halftime and opened a 20-point lead seven minutes into the second half as Cornell never led. Jordan Gathers (5-7) and Matthew Wright (4-8) led the way as the Brown and White made 10 of 22 (.455) three-pointers on the day.  Gathers set career highs with his 20 points and five three-pointers.
The Bonnies completed their non-conference schedule 10-4, marking the first time since 1997 the program recorded 10 wins in a season against non-Atlantic 10 opponents. St. Bonaventure remained undefeated at home, now at 6-0.

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:

• Against a winless Cornell team, St. Bonaventure opened an early 13-5 lead and never gave away the lead, even when Charlon Kloof picked up two fouls in the first half and played only nine of the opening 20 minutes.
• Devin Cherry scored to pull Cornell within three at 17-14 with 9:20 left in the first half, but the Bonnies responded with three-pointers by Matthew Wright and Gathers to go ahead 23-14.
• Cornell got as close as six points but St. Bonaventure got a lift from its bench, especially Gathers who came on to score 12 points in the first half on 3-5 shooting from three-point range.
• Matthew Wright also set the standard in the first half, scoring 13 of his 16 points on the day.
• The Bonnies led by 13 after a Gathers three-pointer with 1:33 left until halftime, but Nolan Cressler drained one of his own to make it a 38-28 game at the break.
• Early in the second half St. Bonaventure led 40-32 when it went on a 10-0 run that essentially put the game away.  Dion Wright had a pair of layups in that run and Kloof capped it with a three-pointer at the 14:25 mark to put the Bonnies up 50-32.
• From that point, the Bonnies' lead only grew. Another Gathers three made it a 25-point game at 66-41 with 9:51 to play.
• Gathers hit his fifth three of the game, setting a new career high, with 4:21 to go, and the Bonnies cruised the rest of the way to their 10^th win of the season.
• St. Bonaventure wound up making 10 of 22 three-pointers (.455), tying their season high for three-pointers made set previously against Southern Illinois.
• Despite only playing a season-low 21 minutes due to his foul troubles, Kloof still ended up with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Dion Wright enjoyed another strong game with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in 30 minutes.
• Coach Mark Schmidt was able to utilize his reserves who don't normally see extended action and, in particular, got a strong contribution from freshman Denzel Gregg, who had four points, three blocks, two rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes of action.
• The Bonnies held Cornell to 42 percent shooting overall including 4-17 (.235) from three-point range. The Big Red entered the game averaging eight three-pointers per game. 

Beyond the Box Score:

• Overall, the Bona bench outscored Cornell's 42-17.
• Cornell's 57 points marked the fifth time this year St. Bonaventure has held a team under 65 points. Only five times have the Bonnies allowed opponents to shoot better than 45 percent.
• Youssou Ndoye had an apparent block on a fastbreak by Cornell called goaltending by the officials in the second half. The call led to catcalls of protest from the RC faithful.
• St. Bonaventure has now defeated Cornell four years in a row since the schools renewed the series in 2011.
• The Bonnies are now 9-2 when leading at the half and 8-1 when they win the rebounding battle.
• Mark Schmidt tied Eddie Melvin for sixth place on St. Bonaventure's coaching wins list with 98.
• The game was shown by NBC Sports Network, the first of the Bonnies' four games on national TV this year.
• The last St. Bonaventure team to record 10 wins in non-conference play was the 1997-98 club, which went 10-3. That team finished 17-15 overall and made the NIT.
• For the second time this year the Bonnies wore their "third" gold uniforms.

Up Next: St. Bonaventure opens Atlantic 10 Conference play next Wednesday, Jan. 8, at home against Richmond. Game time is 7:00.

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