ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – On a night where the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team celebrated last year's championship campaign, the Bonnies gave the Reilly Center faithful more to cheer about with a second half push to storm past Siena, 75-47, in Tuesday's season-opener.

The second half was absolute domination from the defending Atlantic 10 champions.

No. 23/24 St. Bonaventure outscored the Saints by a 39-15 margin over the final 20 minutes, limiting the visitors to just 6-for-25 from the floor.

With the win, the Bonnies reclaim the Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup for the first time since 2019.

In pregame, the Bonnies finally had the chance to revel in last year's accomplishments with over 4,400 fans filling The RC in a regular season game for the first time since March 4, 2020. In addition to each of the five returning senior starters being presented with their A-10 championship rings, the 2021 NCAA Tournament banner was added to the arena rafters.

Siena was out to dampen the Bonnies celebration, however.

The Saints had control early, jumping out to a double digit lead, 18-8, forcing Dominick Welch to the bench with his second foul at the 13:41 mark.

Siena, the defending MAAC regular season champs, opened the game 6-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-5 from distance while the Bonnies connected on just two of their first 11 tries.

Bona's responded, though, bringing the Reilly Center crowd to life with a 16-5 run to push ahead. Siena would counterpunch, leading for nearly 13 minutes of game time during the first half. A 7-2 break from the hosts just before intermission, including a 3-pointer from Jaren Holmes with eight seconds left to take a 36-32 advantage to the locker room.

As the second half dawned, the Bonnies looked every bit worthy of their national Top 25 ranking.

The Bonnies defense limited Siena out of the break, holding the Saints scoreless over a 3:15 stretch which allowed the hosts to pull ahead, 46-37, following a steal and dunk by Abdoul Karim Coulibaly.

A Siena trey out of a timeout brought the game back to two possessions, 46-40, but the Bonnies would embark on a game-changing 15-2 sprint to take a commanding 61-42 cushion with 6:30 remaining.

From there, the Bonnies never looked back.

During the stretch, the Bonnies were stifling. The lead eventually grew to 23 as the Saints went scoreless for over five minutes. Siena struggled to even get shots away, attempting only two field goal tries during the five-minute visitor drought.

Jaren Holmes and Kyle Lofton each posted 17 points with Lofton dishing out six assists as well.

Aidan Carpenter and Jayce Johnson had 10 points apiece for Siena (0-1).

GAME NOTES

• Bona moves to 7-4 against Siena in Franciscan Cup games. Tuesday's win avenges a 2019 loss in Albany in the last meeting between the two teams. The series was put on hold last year due to the pandemic.
• The Franciscan Cup is named in honor of the late Br. Ed Coughlin who passed away July 30, 2019. Br. Ed was a St. Bonaventure graduate who served on the Board of Trustees at both institutions. He was named Siena president in 2014.
• By allowing just 15 points during the second half, it was Bona's stingiest half since also limiting Jackson State to 15 points in a 67-36 win on Nov. 10, 2018.
• Osun Osunniyi was dominant, matching a career high with seven blocks while adding nine ponts and six rebounds. He also had seven swats in the 2018 Jackson State win as well as the Atlantic 10 semifinal win over Saint Louis this past March. In all, he has now reached that total four times.
• Coulibaly had an outstanding Bonnies debut, going 6-for-7 from the floor for 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench.
• Quadry Adams played 24 minutes off the bench with a +30 +/- rating.
• The Bonnies played their first game as a nationally ranked squad since January 1971.
• St. Bonaventure owned a 44-14 advantage in points in the paint and 37-32 in rebounding.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"We got off to a slow start; give Siena credit, they shot the ball really well. Our biggest concern was refocusing after the banner and ring ceremony. We got down early, but I thought we were composed and got back into the game. Second half we played much better defensively. We didn't give up many threes and let them into the lane. Our young guys were big tonight, they came in and played their role. Quadry and Karim played very well tonight."

"We were missing our fans. Thanks to the fans and the community for coming out to the Reilly Center tonight."

"We were able to control the paint on both sides, offensively and defensively."

"Osun is a huge factor, he's a difference-maker on the defensive side, we need him on the court."

UP NEXT
The Bonnies host Little Three rival Canisius Sunday afternoon at the Reilly Center with tip off slated for 5 p.m.
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