AMHERST, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure led wire-to-wire in a dominating victory, 80-65, at rival Buffalo Saturday afternoon in Alumni Arena.

Chad Venning tied his career-best with 23 points to lead all scorers and produce one of multiple stat sheet-filling performances for the Bonnies.

Mika Adams-Woods drove the offense, registering 20 points along with eight assists and six rebounds.

Venning set the tone early, scoring seven of Bona's first 10 points as part of a 12-4 run over the first five minutes of the contest.

That early lead swelled to 29-10 as the Bonnies dominated the first half of play.

The Bonnies held Buffalo to just 9-of-28 from the floor and 0-8 from deep as they ran to the locker room ahead, 39-21, after 20 minutes.

In the first half, Moses Flowers and Daryl Banks III alternated 3-point shots to give the visitors an early cushion. Flowers would finish with 16 points off the bench while Banks contributed 14 points in a full 40-minute effort.

Venning took over after intermission, scoring at will in the paint at times against the Bulls post defenders. His layup two and a half minutes into the second period pushed Bona's lead to 21 and the visitors would never relinquish control.

Making the extra pass was a theme of the day for the Bonnies as they totaled 20 assists on 28 field goals. For the third consecutive game, the Bonnies made double-digit 3-pointers, going 10-for-24 from distance while the Bulls mustered just 2-for-17.

In addition to Adams-Woods' eight assists, Banks III had four helpers while Flowers, Noel Brown and Assa Essamvous each had two apiece.

Sy Chatman scored 20 points, adding 11 rebounds for Buffalo (1-7).

The Bonnies finished the afternoon by shooting over 48 percent from the floor and nearly 42 percent from long range, also winning the battle of the boards, 36-34.

With the win, the Bonnies have three straight triumphs to improve to 5-2 on the season.

GAME NOTES

• Venning tallied his fourth career 20-point effort and matched his career high of 23 points set last year at Saint Louis.
• Adams-Woods equaled his career-best of eight assists, a number he's reached three times in his career including each of the past two games.
• Adams-Woods also had his third career 20-point game, just one point off his high of 21 at East Carolina in 2022 while with Cincinnati.
• Barry Evans had a season-best eight rebounds and also had seven points, matching a season-best. Evans replaced Charles Pride in the starting lineup, who missed the game due to an ankle injury.
• The Bonnies also played without Kyrell Luc who was sidelined due to an ankle injury as well.
• Bona blocked seven shots – led by a career-high three by Adams-Woods – a season-best for the defense.
• SBU improved to 12-5 all-time against Buffalo and scored their first win in the city since 2017. Bona had lost its previous two trips to Alumni Arena.

 QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"The key going into the game was trying to keep them in front of us and in the first half we did a very good job keeping them out of the paint and earning two or three shot clock violations. We shared the ball and played extremely well on both ends. In the second half, I thought we got a little sloppy and gave up 44 points in the second half so we need to get better. We need to finish better."

"I thought Chad played terrific inside, he got some easy baskets for us."

"We play well in spurts, we have to do it consistently. If we can play consistently for 40 minutes we have a chance to be pretty good. We have to get consistent effort all the time."
 
QUOTES FROM BONNIES STUDENT-ATHLETES
"We have to take care of the ball better at the end. We need to control the game better."

"I still have to control the game better down the stretch. As the quarterback, Kyrell and I are the point guards of the team, we have to control the game a little better."

"Chad was dominating in the paint and that opened up things for me. We were feeding him and getting him going. Once the defense started to collapse on him that created looks for me." – Mika Adams-Woods

"At times we get complacent, a little too relaxed. We have to keep going and play hard all the way through." – Chad Venning
 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies travel again north to take on another Western New York rival on Wednesday night at Niagara. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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