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

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

St. Bonaventure Starters: #3 G Marcus Posley, #10 G Jaylen Adams,  #21 F Dion Wright, #23 G Andell Cumberbatch, #35 C Youssou Ndoye

The Short Story:
A late comeback effort fell short as St. Bonaventure (1-1) lost to Siena, 73-70, in the fifth annual Franciscan Cup game on Wednesday night at the Reilly Center. The Saints retained the Cup, which they won last year for the first time since the contest between the sister schools re-started in 2010.

The Bonnies trailed most of the night and eventually fell behind by 17 points with 12:28 to play. It was still a 12-point Siena lead with 4:13 remaining when St. Bonaventure mounted a comeback. An 8-0 run capped by consecutive three-pointers by Marcus Posley and Jaylen Adams pulled the Bonnies within 65-61 with 2:05 left. However, Siena's Ryan Oliver coerced a goaltending call on Youssou Ndoye that ended the Bonnies' run. Siena added another score with 1:04 to play to make it 69-61 and effectively end the Bonnies' chances.

Andell Cumberbatch had a stellar night, recording his second straight double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Posley finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Senior center Youssou Ndoye, playing his first game this season, was limited to four points on 1-4 shooting. He did have eight rebounds and blocked three shots. The next leading scorer for the Bonnies was Dion Wright with eight points.

The Bonnies fell behind largely due to their inability to solve Siena's 2-3 zone defense. St. Bonaventure shot just 38.7% from the field and committed 16 turnovers.  The Bonnies also struggled at the free throw line, going 14 of 24. Siena, which had lost its first two games this year to UMass and Vermont, shot only 39 percent and missed 13 free throws but turned the ball over only five times.

How It Happened:

• Back-to-back threes from Andell Cumberbatch and Marcus Posley helped the Bonnies start the game with an 8-2 lead.
• Siena responded with an 8-0 run of its own, taking a 10-8 lead with 14:20 left in the first half.
• Siena went on another scoring spurt, pulling ahead 18-13 before Posley converted two free throws to bring the Bonnies within three at 18-15.
• On the next possession, Posley drained a contested three to tie the game at 18 apiece, leading to a Siena timeout with 7:34 left in the half.
• Siena then used a 14-2 run to surge ahead 32-20 with 4:00 remaining before the break.
• After over a two minute scoring drought for St. Bonaventure, Andell Cumberbatch drew an and-1 and converted the free throw to end Siena's run and make the score 33-23 with 3:14 left.
• Sparked by Cumberbatch's play, the Bonnies went on an 8-0 to make it a 33-28 game.
• The Saints, however, scored the last five points before halftime to lead 38-28.
• Siena came out of the break and opened the second half on a 13-6 run to go up by 15 at 47-32.
• Jalen Adams hit a runner in the lane to cut the Siena lead to 57-44. After a defensive stand, Cumberbatch drove for a layup to make it a 57-46 game.
• After exchanging baskets, the Bonnies were able to pull within 10 when a pair of Cumberbatch free-throws made it a 65-55 game with 3:58 remaining.
• It was still a 12-point Siena lead with 4:13 remaining when St. Bonaventure mounted a comeback. An 8-0 run capped by consecutive three-pointers by Marcus Posley and Jaylen Adams pulled the Bonnies within 65-61 with 2:05 left.
• Siena withstood the run, scoring on its next three possessions to regain control. Siena's Ryan Oliver coerced a goaltending call with 1:48 left on Youssou Ndoye that ended the Bonnies' surge.
• The Saints went up by 12 points after four straight points by Marquis Wright, the last coming with 21 second left. St. Bonaventure made the final margin closer after two three-pointers by Cumberbatch and one by Posley.

Quotes from St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt:
"Give Siena all the credit -- they played really well. The biggest stat was points off turnovers. We lost by 15, they had 21 assists off of 24 field goals. You look at the rest of the stat line, it's pretty equal."

"We didn't execute. We lacked discipline, we took some ill-advised shots. They only shot 39% and the goal is to keep them below 40%; but when we broke down we really broke down. I knew there was going to be growing pains. We have a bunch of young guys and in order to win at this level you have to execute. (Siena) did a better job of executing than we did."

"Especially in the first half, we didn't attack the 2-3 zone well at all. In the second half, we got better. We had opportunities; in the first half we had to cut it to five, then it went back up to 10. In the second half we had the ball down by four and didn't get a good look at the basket." 

 "We're young and sometimes we try to make that spectacular play when you're down by double digits. You can't make that spectacular play, that low percentage play - you have to make a solid play. We didn't do that at times."

"We fought and believe me we're not going to quit. We're going to fight and we have to become more blue collar, but we could have easily laid down; and that's a good sign."

Beyond The Boxscore

• Andell Cumberbatch now has four career double-doubles and they came in back-to-back games both this year and last season (UMass-Lowell 12/03/13 and Buffalo 12/7/13).
• Cumberbatch's nine field goals are a career high. His three 3-pointers and 11 rebounds tie his career highs in those categories.
• Marcus Posley's 38 points over the first two games scored are the most points scored by a new player through two games under Mark Schmidt.

Up Next: The Bonnies will host Canisius in a Big 4 showdown this Saturday afternoon. Tip off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.