BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Just over 24 hours earlier on the same Barclays Arena floor, the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team scored a thrilling victory over Oklahoma State at the buzzer.

There would be no such drama in Friday night's Legends Classic Championship Game as Auburn scored a 77-60 decision with a red-hot first half by the Tigers proving too much to overcome despite Bona locking in their defense in the second half.

Chad Venning led the Bonnies with 14 points, though limited to under 18 minutes due to foul trouble. Mika Adams-Woods delivered 11 points, surpassing 1,000 career tallies in the process while also being named to the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team.

Preseason First Team All-SEC Johni Broome produced 18 points and drew eight fouls against in a dominating effort for Auburn (3-1).

Much of the damage was done before halftime – Auburn connected on 55 percent of its shot attempts (17-31) including seven 3-pointers during the first half.

Bonaventure, though, held Auburn to just 8-21 from the floor during the second half,and outscored the Tigers by a 32-29 clip in the final 20 minutes.

Unfortunately for the Bonnies, not enough of their own shots fell, as they went 23-58 for the game, and 3-24 from long range.

Venning got the Bonnies going out of the gates with the team's first four points quickly, but he was whistled for his second foul less than three minutes in and forced to the bench for much of the half.

His absence led in to a 9-0 run from the Tigers for a 15-6 score, but the Bonnies weathered that storm to push back to a 20-15 margin.

The Bonnies went cold again, though, converting just one of 10 field goal attempts as the Tigers expanded their lead to 48-28 as they went to halftime with all cylinders firing. 

In the second half, the Bonnies stemmed the tide, making efforts to chip away.

Venning returned to the game and helped Bona's get back within 15 as he was good on his first six tries from the floor.

The Bonnies found some traction defensively during the second half, holding Auburn for long spells without any momentum on the offensive end. 

Unfortunately for the Bonnies, however, the mountain to climb in the second half stood too tall, despite quieting the Tigers offense.

Bona would get back to a 67-56 margin with just under four minutes left after holding the Tigers without a field goal for a nearly six-minute stretch.

As the minutes ticked away, the fouls continued to mount as both Venning and backup center Noel Brown fouled out, forcing the Bonnies to go small.

While the Bonnies held the Tigers silent from the floor, they would connect on just two field goals of their own as they attempted to rally.

Despite their size advantage, the Tigers held just a 34-32 margin on the glass and the Bonnies had 12 offensive rebounds to Auburn's 11. The paint points were even, 32-all, but 16 Bona turnovers resulted in 24 points of offense for the Tigers. 
 
GAME NOTES

• By surpassing 1,000 career points, Adams-Woods joins teammates Charles Pride, Daryl Banks III and Moses Flowers in the 1K club.
• Adams-Woods joins Jaylin Williams (Auburn), Javon Small (OK State), Markus Burton (Notre Dame) and Johni Broome on the All-Tournament Team. Broome was named tournament MVP.
• Barry Evans led the Bonnies on the glass with seven rebounds.
• Auburn entered this week receiving Top 25 votes in both the AP and coaches' polls.
• The Legends Classic served as home games for Venning, a Brooklyn native who grew up dreaming of playing at Barclays Center.
• Friday's loss snapped what was a nine-game winning streak for the Bonnies in multi-team events dating back to 2019. In that stretch, the Bonnies went 3-0 in last year's Gotham Classic as well as in the 2021 Charleston Classic as well as 2-0 in the 2019 Boca Beach Classic, winning the championship trophy in all three events.
• Bonnies head coach Mark Schmidt and Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl knew each other from their days at Boston College. Pearl was a senior manager when Schmidt was a freshman on the BC squad.
• The Bonnies and Tigers met for just the second time – Bona's won a neutral court game in the 1967 Tampa Invitational in the only previous meeting between the programs.

 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"They put us on our heels in the first half. Their speed, their athleticism, got us in the last five minutes of the first half. Give our guys credit, I thought being down 20 at halftime, we could've folded, but we fought back. We had opportunities to get it down to single digits, but when you're down by 20 at halftime you try to find some small victories. Our guys didn't give up, which is a positive, we just have to get better. Auburn is a dynamic team, they're big inside, Holloway is a terrific guard. They have a lot of talent."

"There are some positives to take away from here, for sure. We came here and beat a Big 12 team, that's a good building block. We battled Auburn. We just have to get better."

"Broome is tough. They run a good system and have good players around him. I thought Chad did a good job and held his own really well despite only playing 17 minutes."

"Auburn, in my opinion, would be the best team in the Atlantic 10. It's only the fourth game of the season and we have three new guys we're trying to work in. we are still working on our chemistry and the things we want to do. We hope winning over a Big 12 team, battling Auburn, there are some things to take some energy from going forward, but we've got to work. No team, no player stays the same. They get better or they get worse and we need to work to get better.
 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies return home to host two home games next week. First, Bona's welcomes Bucknell to the Reilly Center Wednesday at 7 p.m. before Miami (OH) visits Saturday, Nov. 25.
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