ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – An ice cold second half resulted in St. Bonaventure falling to visiting Florida Gulf Coast Friday night at the Reilly Center, 71-58.

The Bonnies led by a bucket at halftime, but went 6-for-25 from the floor after the break while FGCU connected on 14-of-26 tries to pull away from the hosts.

Daryl Banks III led the Bonnies with 18 points while Chad Venning recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

The game was a matchup between one team that shoots a ton of threes – FGCU entered the day averaging nine per game, while attempting 45 percent of its tries from deep – and a Bonnies squad that ranked fourth nationally in 3-point percentage defense (opponents shot just 24.5 percent in the first 10 games).

While the Eagles weren't excellent from long range – they went 8-for-25 for a 32 percent success rate – they did do a lot of damage on the boards. FGCU out-rebounded the Bonnies by a 41-28 margin and also posted 32 points in the paint to SBU's 18.

Chase Johnston did most of the damage for the visitors, scoring 22 points in just over 22 minutes of action, going 7-for-13 overall and 4-of-8 from distance. He added four steals on the defensive end.

FGCU showed why it boasts an impressive 9-3 record, including a NET Top 100 ranking, by bringing the energy early, opening the game on a 14-6 sprint.

Bona's got back into it with a quick 9-2 break, taking its first lead of the day on back-to-back treys from Banks with eight minutes left before intermission.

After four ties and three lead changes, the Bonnies took a narrow 33-31 edge to half.

The Eagles quickly set the tone in the second half, going on a 10-2 run, to take control.

Each time the Bonnies attempted to change the momentum, FGCU immediately snuffed out the rally.

Within five at 52-47 following a Banks three with 9:55 to go, Dahmir Bishop rattled home a bucket on the next FGCU offensive trip.

A three ball from Yann Farell got the Bonnies within 57-51 and still 5:56 to play, but a fastbreak answer by Caleb Catto followed.

Andre Weir's dunk gave FGCU a double-digit advantage with 3:22 remaining, effectively sealing the contest for the Eagles with the Bonnies' struggles on the offensive end.

St. Bonaventure falls to 6-5 overall on the season and will conclude non-conference play with a pair of road games coming up next week.

GAME NOTES

• Friday was the 100^th career game for Banks. He recorded his 55^th career effort of double-figure scoring.
• Brett Rumpel scored his first career collegiate points with three free throws. He also recorded two assists off the bench.
• Farell had 10 rebounds, his third career game of double-digit boards.
• Venning matched his career high with four swats.
• The Bonnies suffered their first home loss of the year, falling to 5-1 on home court.
• Friday's matchup was the first meeting ever between the Bonnies and FGCU in the sport of men's basketball. The two schools had met once previously on the court, though – Bona's women's team defeated the Eagles in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament for the first tourney win in program history.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"We got off to bad start, but I felt like we recovered. Even though we didn't play great in the first half, we held them to 31 points and defended well. When you get out-rebounded by 13 it is hard to win. We played hard, it just seemed like in the last five seconds they would just break us down and get an extra shot or possession. The game is won below the foul line and we didn't block out well enough to win. We couldn't make the plays when we needed to, but I thought we fought.

"We just didn't have the step we needed against a good team. It's hard to take away anything. We just have to play with more energy and execute better on both ends. We had some open shots, but we just didn't make them."
 
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure renews the Franciscan Cup rivalry with sister school Siena Monday night in the state capital. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m.

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