Location: Bob Lanier Court -- Reilly Center

Box Score (PDF)  |  Statistics With Play-by-Play

St. Bonaventure Starters: #4 Nelson Kaputo, #3 G Marcus Posley, #1 Idris Taqqee, #21 F Dion Wright, #20 F Derrick Woods

The Short Story
Behind its best defensive effort of the season and a dominant first half, St. Bonaventure topped South Carolina State 64-45 on Saturday at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies got their fourth straight win and improved to 7-2.

Playing its first game since Dec. 8, St. Bonaventure jumped out to a 17-6 lead seven minutes into the game. It was a 24-11 lead when the Bonnies surged ahead with a 12-0 run to make it a 36-11 game with 4:15 left in the opening half.  The first half ended with the Bonnies ahead 40-21 after they limited the Bulldogs to 7-31 (22 percent) shooting.

The teams played an even second half as South Carolina State could not mount a serious challenge.

St. Bonaventure held the Bulldogs 30 points under their season scoring average as SC State shot just 28 percent from the field, a season low by a Bonnies opponent.

Marcus Posley scored 26 points to lead the Bonnies. Dion Wright finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Freshman point guard Nelson Kaputo, starting in place of suspended sophomore Jaylen Adams, played all 40 minutes and had season highs of 12 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

How It Happened:

• St. Bonaventure opened an early 13-5 lead after  a jump hook by freshman forward Derrick Woods.
• Back-to-back layups by Dion Wright made it a 17-6 game.
• St. Bonaventure extended its lead to 24-9 by the 8:36 mark, using defense to create its own scoring chances. The Bonnies wound up scoring 13 points off nine SC State turnovers in the first half.
• A 12-0 run extended the lead to 25 points at 36-11 with 4:15 left before halftime.
• Posley scored 16 points in the first half to lead all scorers.
• Offense was harder to come by in the second half as neither team could develop a rhythm.
• St. Bonaventure, though, still maintained its lead, growing the margin to a game-high 26 points at 58-32 by the 9:46 mark.
• SC State only cut the deficit under 20 points on its final basket of the game.
• The Bonnies grabbed a season-high 49 rebounds – 30 in the first half alone. Denzel Gregg matched Wright with 10 rebounds and Idris Taqqee snagged a career high nine.

Beyond the Box Score:

• SC State's 45 points were the fewest allowed by the Bonnies this season; the previous low was 53 by Binghamton. The Bulldogs' three three-pointers were the second-lowest total by a Bona opponent only to the one made by Buffalo.
• SC State's 45 points were the fewest allowed by St. Bonaventure team since Dec. 4, 2012 – a 58-43 win over Siena.
• Dion Wright now has an A-10 high five double-doubles this season and 12 for his career.
• Redshirt freshman forward Jordan Tyson made his season debut after missing the first eight games due to wrist surgery. He played 14 minutes, scored two points and grabbed one rebound.
• St. Bonaventure is now 5-1 at the Reilly Center this season.
• The Bonnies ' 7-2 record matches their start to last season, their best under coach Mark Schmidt.
• Schmidt now has 131 wins at St. Bonaventure, one away from tying Jim Baron for fifth place on the program's all-time coaching wins list.

Up Next: St. Bonaventure will travel to Siena for the annual Franciscan Cup game on Tuesday, Dec. 22. Tipoff will be 7:00 at the Times Union Center.