Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.  |  PPG Paints Arena

Box Score (PDF) 

St. Bonaventure Starters: #10 G Jaylen Adams, #2 G Matt Mobley, #1 G Idris Taqqee, #12 F Denzel Gregg, #33 F Josh Ayeni 

The Short Story
The run for St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 Tournament came to an end Friday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena, falling to fourth-seeded Rhode Island by a 74-63 final tally.

After a first half that saw Rhode Island continually get to the line and throw the Bonnies into foul trouble, Bona responded with a quick run after intermission to grab the lead.

Rhode Island went just 6-for-16 at the charity stripe during the first half, allowing the Bonnies to keep within a 32-26 score at halftime.

St. Bonaventure made the Rams pay for that early on in the second stanza, embarking on a 9-2 break to take its first lead of the day, 35-34, with 16:55 to play.

Unfortunately for the Bonnies, Rhode Island immediately responded with a run of its own, erasing the momentum for the Brown and White. Just over two minutes later, the score stood at 45-37 with the Rams never ceding control the rest of the way.

Jaylen Adams netted a game-high 21 points for the Bonnies with Denzel Gregg and Idris Taqqee both scoring 12 points on the afternoon.

St. Bonaventure struggled to gain any traction against the Rams defense, finishing at 38.6 percent shooting from the floor (22-for-57) and 4-for-16 from beyond the arc.

E.C. Matthews finished with 20 points while Hassan Martin recorded 19 points and eight rebounds.

The Rams shot nearly 56 percent from the floor (24-43) and went 21-36 from the line. 

St. Bonaventure will now await word on a potential NIT berth.

How It Happened: 

• Early fouls contributed to a slow start for the Bonnies, as they fell behind 9-2 just over three minutes into the game. Four of the first five fouls were called against St. Bonaventure.
• Rhode Island led 12-4 when the Bonnies scored seven straight points to make it a 12-11 game. Denzel Gregg capped the spurt with a traditional three-point play.
• The see-saw continued, as the Rams went ahead 18-14 but Bona fought back. Jaylen Adams' jumper at the 8:16 mark pulled St. Bonaventure to within 21-20.
• The Rams extended their lead to six at 26-20 but again the Bonnies responded against the A-10's top defense, pulling back to 27-24.
• Hassan Martin scored off a lob pass inside with six seconds left to make it a 32-26 lead for Rhode Island at halftime.
• St. Bonaventure, which committed 10 turnovers in the first half, benefitted from the Rams going 6-16 at the free throw line.
• Early in the second half the Bonnies took their first lead of the day at 35-34 on two Matt Mobley free throws.
• The Rams connected on two three-pointers and went ahead 45-37 thanks to a 12-2 run. Rhode Island made six of its first eight shots in the second half.
• The lead grew to 57-44 on a three-pointer by URI at the 9:16 mark.
• From there, the Bonnies could not cut their deficit by any fewer than 10 points.

Quotes from Head Coach Mark Schmidt: 

• "I give all the credit to Rhode Island. I thought they did a great job, both offensively and defensively. They hurt us inside from an offensive standpoint. One of our weaknesses is we have young guys inside and they took advantage of that."
• "We got the run coming out of the half, and that was what we needed. Then it was back-and-forth, and they got too many easy baskets. They're a really good team, and they're very physical. They make you work for everything."
• "They were men inside, and we had young guys inside. We needed to do a better job of scoring, but it was very hard defensively."
• "We're a good team. We came in fifth in the Atlantic 10, and we've had some good wins. We get great crowds, and we're deserving of playing in the NIT."

Beyond The Box Score:

• Adams sank three shots from long range on the day, breaking a tie for third place all-time in Bonnies career history with Tim Winn (1996-2000). The junior guard now has 195 3's in his career.
• Mobley has 86 3's on the year, ranking fifth all-time in Bonnies single season history.
• Bona was outrebounded, 34-28, marking just the 10th time all season the Bonnies lost the battle of the boards.
• Adams made 11 free throws during the tournament, stretching his program season record to 206. He has shot 82 percent from the line for the year (206-251).
• St. Bonaventure has registered 20 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1977-78. It was also the third straight year of reaching the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals.

---------
For the latest news on St. Bonaventure athletics, stay connected on social media. Follow the Bonnies on Twitter @Go_Bonnies and get men's basketball updates @BonniesMBB. Keep up with the Bonnies on Facebook /GoBonnies and on Instagram @GoBonnies.