Final Score: St. Bonaventure 71, Duquesne 67

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

Records: St. Bonaventure 16-10 (6-6) | Duquesne 11-14 (3-9)

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

After watching an 11 point halftime lead disappear, St. Bonaventure battled back and defeated Duquesne 71-67 for its third straight win.

Matthew Wright made three key plays down the stretch to lead the Bonnies to the victory. With the Bonnies trailing 67-64, he made a jumper and was fouled with 2:23 left. His ensuing free throw tied the game. Both teams missed shots, and the Bonnies had possession with under a minute left when Wright threaded a pass to Youssou Ndoye for a layup that put the Bonnies ahead 69-67 with 33 seconds left. St. Bonaventure then played solid defense and forced a miss by Derrick Colter with 17 seconds left that Charlon Kloof rebounded. Two fouls later sent Wright back to the free throw line where he drained two shots with 12 seconds remaining to ice the game.

While Wright led all scorers with 22 points, the Bonnies had huge contributions from their bench, with 36 points coming from non-starters. Jordan Gathers led the way with 18 points while Dion Wright added 16 points and seven boards as the Bonnies earned a split of the season series with the Dukes.

Full Recap and video highlights coming soon.

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

How It Happened:

• After falling down 8-4 to start the game, the Bonnies responded with a 6-0 run, including back-to-back buckets by Dion Wright to take a 10-8 lead.
• Jordan Gathers stole the ball and converted a transition lay-up on the other end to give the Bonnies a one-point lead at 12-11 with 12:44 left.
• Marquise Simmons drained a baseline jumper to put the Bonnies ahead 18-13 with 8:23 remaining in the first half.
• After Ovie Soko scored to cut Duquesne's deficit to 24-23, the Bonnies responded by scoring 10 unanswered points. A pair of Gathers free throws with 1:13 remaining gave the Brown and White a 34-23 lead and capped the run.
• St. Bonaventure entered halftime with an 11-point lead, 36-25. The Bonnies' bench played a big role in the first half, accounting for 21 points. Gathers hit three shots from behind the arc and had 15 of the 21 first half bench points.
• Matthew Wright continued the Bonnies' hot three-point shooting from the first half by knocking down a triple for the first bucket of the second half.
• Duquesne had an answer, however, hitting all seven field goals, including four three-pointers, as they opened the second half on an 18-7 run to tie the score up at 43-43 with 16:04 left.
• St. Bonaventure was not rattled by the outburst, as they responded with their own 6-0 run to give them a 49-43 lead with 14:17 left in the game.
• Gathers stayed hot from beyond the arc, hitting his fourth three-pointer of the night that gave the Bonnies a 54-48 lead with 12:46 remaining.
• Dion Wright made a nice move to the basket and converted a layup to give the Bonnies a 60-57 lead with 7:31 left on the clock.
• Duquesne tied the game at 60 on a Micah Mason three-pointer with 7:15 left; it was Mason's fourth and final three-pointer (of eight) on the night. Mason came into the game leading NCAA Division I in three-point percentage.
• From that point on, there were four ties and four lead changes the remainder of the game.
• With the Bonnies trailing 67-64, Matthew Wright drilled an and-one jump shot with 2:23 remaining. His free throw tied the game at 67.
• Both teams missed shots, and the Bonnies had possession with under a minute left when Wright threaded a pass to Youssou Ndoye for a layup that put the Bonnies ahead 69-67 with 33 seconds left.
• With 17 seconds left, Duquesne's Derrick Colter was fouled by Dion Wright, but he missed both free throws.
• Charlon Kloof rebounded the second miss and was fouled, but it was just Duquesne's sixth foul. After a Bonnies timeout, Matthew Wright received the inbounds pass and was fouled by Colter.
• Wright went to the free throw line for a one-and-one with 12 seconds remaining, and he drained two shots to ice the game.

 Beyond the Box Score:

• The Bonnies stand eighth place in the Atlantic 10, pending the outcome of tonight's La Salle at Dayton matchup.
• St. Bonaventure is now 10-2 at the Reilly Center this season, including 4-2 in A-10 games.
• Jordan Gathers' 18 points tied his career high against A-10 competition set just last Saturday at George Mason; he also set a career best in A-10 play with his four three-pointers (of six).
• Dion Wright's 16 points also tied his A-10 career best set in January at Saint Louis. His eight field goals tied his career high.
• Youssou Ndoye's three blocks against Duquesne gives him 59 for the season.
• Matthew Wright now is just 49 points away from 1,000 for his career.
• This was the 112 meeting all-time between the schools; the Dukes still hold a 58-54 lead in the series.

Quotes from St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt:

• "It was back-and-forth game, and we found a way to win – we made the plays at the end. Matthew [Wright] was terrific the whole game."
• "We finished and I was proud the way we fought. We didn't play our best, but we found a way, and in this league, that's what you've got to do."
• "I thought Jordan (Gathers) really gave us a huge lift. Charlon's been in foul trouble in the first half a lot and (Gathers) has come in and given us a lift. He hit some big shots."
• "Duquesne made a run and we answered. That tells you something about what you have. A team of front runners can play well when things are going good, but when there's some adversity, you find out more about your team."

Up Next: The Bonnies will remain at home to host Rhode Island at the Reilly Center on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 4 p.m. Bonnies great Andrew Nicholson will be in attendance to see his #44 jersey retired.