ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Rivalry games aren't supposed to be easy.

Sunday night at the Reilly Center was anything but as No. 23/24 St. Bonaventure erased an 11-point second half deficit to rally past visiting Canisius, 69-60.

The Griffs led by five at halftime and used a 10-4 break at the start of the second period to seize control with their largest lead, 47-36, with 15:09 remaining.

The margin between the Little Three rivals remained between seven and nine over the next four minutes before the Bonnies truly started to chip away.

Much of the comeback was engineered by the senior backcourt of Kyle Lofton and Jaren Holmes.

With the Griffins leading 57-50 with 6:54 remaining, Lofton started to take over. He drove the lane to cut the deficit to five, preceding a layup from Holmes. A steal from Lofton and a pass ahead to Holmes set up a massive-and one following a dunk that rattled the rafters of The RC for a 57-56 score.

Dominick Welch's block set the stage for a layup from Jalen Adaway on the other end as the Bonnies took their first lead of the half, 58-57, with 5:15 to play.

Canisius' Jacco Fritz then made one of two at the line for the tie, but on the following possession, Lofton drained a corner 3-pointer for a 61-58 Bona's advantage with 4:01 showing on the clock. From there, the Bonnies never trailed again.

The Bonnies defense again took over down the stretch despite the absence of Osun Osunniyi who missed the second half due to injury. The Griffs went 1-for-11 over a game-changing stretch where the Bonnies launched a 17-3 run to push ahead. A scoreless stretch lasted four minutes as the visitors saw their effort at an upset fade away.

Lofton posted 17 points, six rebounds and four assists while Holmes tallied 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Adaway added 16 points and six rebounds in his first action of the year.

Neither team found a true rhythm on the offensive end during the first half as the Bonnies shot just 34 percent (9-26) while the Griffs went 11-for-35 (31 percent) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

The teams exchanged the lead six times and shared five ties, but the Griffs took a 31-26 to the break.

Malek Green posted 14 points and eight boards for Canisius (0-3).

GAME NOTES

• Sunday's game marked the 169^th meeting all-time between the Bonnies and Griffs, the longest-running series for SBU against any school. It was the first contest between the Little Three rivals since 2019, though, as last year's game was canceled due to the pandemic.
• Fifteen of Lofton's 17 points came during the second half rally.
• The Bonnies owned a 37-36 edge in rebounding and shot 43 percent for the game, including 52 percent after halftime. Canisius shot 32 percent for the day.
• SBU also owned a 36-24 edge in paint scoring.
• Abdoul Karim Coulibaly took over in the middle during the second half, logging seven points and three blocks. Oluwasegun Durosinmi registered two and half important minutes late after Coulibaly picked up his fourth foul.
• Adaway shot 7-for-12 from the floor.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"Credit to Canisius, they played very physical in the first half and forced us to commit turnovers. We overcame adversity and stuck together. We got a lot off of our defense and played harder in the last 10 minutes of the game. It's always going to be a tough game against Canisius, it's a rivalry game and they had us on our heels."

"We came out in the second half with more of a sense of urgency. We played like its 4th and 1 every play and overcame adversity."

"The rivalry is great and its tradition to this area. For the older alums it is important, and we play to win for everybody it matters to."

"We have to get better, we had some open shots and missed. We need to get off to better starts. We certainly are not a finished product yet."

UP NEXT
The Bonnies travel to South Carolina this week to compete in the Charleston Classic. St. Bonaventure will play three games in the tournament, beginning Thursday at 2 p.m. vs. Boise State in the first round. That game will air live on ESPN2.
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