Location: St. Bonaventure, NY  |  Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center

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: Marcus Posley scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half to lead St. Bonaventure to a 70-61 win over Saint Joseph's on Sunday afternoon at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies improved to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the Atlantic 10 Conference with their second straight win.

The Bonnies trailed 29-28 at halftime but took their first lead of the game on a steal and breakaway dunk by senior center Youssou Ndoye that made it 37-35 with 15:21 remaining. The lead grew to 48-39 before the Hawks rallied to pull within 48-46.

The game remained close the rest of the way, and a three-pointer by Isaiah Miles closed the Bonnies' lead to 55-54 with 5:35 left. St. Bonaventure answered, though, with a jumper by reserve Denzel Gregg followed by a Posley three-pointer to push the lead back to six points at 60-54 with 2:41 to play.

The Bonnies went 8-8 at the free throw line down over the final 2:13 to secure the win.  

Ndoye finished with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Dion Wright scored 14 points and Andell Cumberbatch added nine for the Bonnies.  St. Bonaventure had 18 assists on its 25 field goals and committed only seven turnovers to the Hawks' 13.

The Bonnies moved into a five-way tie for third place in the A-10 standings. 

How It Happened:

• Saint Joseph's started out well, as DeAndre Bembry staked the Hawks to an early lead at 16-11.
• It was a 20-14 Hawks lead when the Bonnies were able to cut their deficit to 20-19 on a dunk by Ndoye and a three-pointer by Posley.
• The Hawks then went on a 10-1 run to open their largest lead of the day at 29-21 with 2:09 left in the first half.
• St. Bonaventure scored the final seven points of the first half on a jumper by Wright, a jumper by Jaylen Adams and a three-pointer by Posley to make it a 29-28 game at halftime.
• A spectacular play by the 7-foot Ndoye gave the Bonnies their first lead of the game and sparked the crowd of 4,244. Ndoye stole a pass and went coast-to-coast for a breakaway dunk that made it 37-35 with 15:21 remaining.
• Fueled by that momentum, St. Bonaventure surged ahead 48-39. Andell Cumberbatch's jumper with 10:42 remaining capped a 10-2 Bona run.
• The Hawks responded by scoring the next seven points to make it a 48-46 game and it remained close the rest of the way.
• A three-pointer by Hawk forward Isaiah Miles closed the Bonnies' lead to 55-54 with 5:35 left.
• St. Bonaventure answered, though, with a jumper by reserve Denzel Gregg followed by a Posley three-pointer to push the lead back to six points at 60-54 with 2:41 to play. Posley's three-pointer was his fifth of the game.
• Miles made another three-pointer with 2:19 left to pull the Hawks within 60-57, but that turned out to be the visitors' last field goal.
• Adams and Ndoye each made two free throws with two Saint Joseph's missed shots in between as the Bonnies pushed their lead to 64-57.
• The Bonnies went 8-8 at the free throw line down over the final 2:13 to secure the win.  
• St. Bonaventure went 13-22 (59 percent) from the field in the second half, its second-best shooting percentage in any half this season.

Beyond The Boxscore:

• Posley's 23 points mark his eighth 20-point game this season, the most of any A-10 player.
• Posley made five three-pointers (of 10 attempted) for the second game in a row.
• Posley is now averaging 17.4 points per game for the season. He re-took the A-10 scoring lead over LaSalle's Jordan Price, who is at 17.3.
• Ndoye set a career high with his five assists.
• The Hawks' 38-30 rebounding edge was only the third time this season St. Bonaventure has been outrebounded.
• St. Bonaventure went 13-17 at the free throw line, outscoring the Hawks there 13-8, which marked the 12^th time this year the Bonnies have outscored their opponent at the free throw line. 

Quotes from St. Bonaventure Coach Mark Schmidt:

"I thought we got off to a sluggish start, I thought in the first five to six minutes it was similar to George Mason, but I thought we found ourselves and finished the half. We had six to seven stops at the end of the first half and we cut the lead to one."

"Going into halftime I thought we felt good about ourselves. We didn't play well in the first half and we were down by one. In the second half, I thought we came out with a lot more energy. Other than Bembry, I thought we defended the rest of the team decently."

"We didn't rebound the way we were capable of rebounding which is something we need to improve on but I thought we found a way. Marcus hit a couple big shots, I thought Denzel hit a big shot to push the lead out. We played good enough to outscore them by ten in the second half."

"We knew it was going to be a tough game. The Atlantic 10 is what it is and it's always good to win. We haven't won here since December 3^rd so it's good to make the Reilly Center something it's supposed to be."

"In the Atlantic 10, it's always going to come down to the last two or three minutes, the last two or three possessions … the teams that can make the plays both offensively and defensively are going to win the game. We found a way to make those plays. We also finished the game making our foul shots which is critical." 

Up Next: St. Bonaventure will hit the road for a pair of games next week starting Thursday, Jan. 22, at Duquesne. Game time will be 7:00 at the Palumbo Center.