LEWISTON, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure's offense put on an explosive performance as the Bonnies dominated rival Niagara, 94-60, at the Gallagher Center Wednesday night.

The numbers were no less than eye-popping: Bona shot nearly 67 percent from the floor for the game (38-57) and better than 63 percent from long range (12-19).

While the offense was cooking, the Bonnies dominated in every aspect – on the glass, the visitors held a 30-13 advantage while points in the paint showed Bona with a 48-20 cushion.

Mika Adams-Woods poured in a career-high 25 points on 10-of-11 shooting including a perfect 5-for-5 on 3-point tries.

The bench combination of Noel Brown (15 points, 7-7 FG) and Moses Flowers (14 points, three assists) gave the team an additional offensive spark while Chad Venning (14 points) and Daryl Banks III (10 points) were also in double figures.

In a century-old battle between the Bonnies and Purple Eagles stretching across 161 meetings, Wednesday's game was the second-largest lopsided win for the Brown and White. Only a 104-68 win by the Final Four bound 1969-70 squad stands as a larger thumping.

While the Bonnies struggled at times to keep the throttle down in last Saturday's win at Buffalo, Wednesday was a wire-to-wire domination.

"Sometimes it's us vs. us, and not so much about us vs. the other team," Brown said. "Last weekend even though it was a victory, we didn't fully live up to our potential. In a game like this, it's important to show that we are getting toward our goals and where we need to be."

"As a group, we know that we are starting to get more comfortable together," Adams-Woods added. "Going into this game, we knew we had to finish. We're understanding the mindset we need to have more, just to keep our foot on the gas and keep going."

With the win, the Bonnies stretched their winning streak to four in a row and moved to 6-2 on the young season.

In the very early going, it appeared as though it might be slow going for the Bonnies as Niagara grabbed an 8-2 lead as the Bonnies went scoreless for nearly four minutes after scoring on the opening possession.

Adams-Woods brought the drought with a jumper, and from there the flood gates opened.

The Bonnies would embark on a 38-9 run, including 19 consecutive points as they scored nearly at will for most of the first half.

Bona shot better than 65 percent during the opening half despite the slow opening as both Venning and Noel Brown worked in the paint while Flowers and Banks connected on jumpers and Adams-Woods facilitated the show.

The visitors kept firing on all cylinders as the second half opened, and by the time Adams-Woods swiped a Niagara pass and tossed ahead to Assa Essamvous for a thunder dunk at the 17:05 mark, the rout was on.

The Purple Eagles called for time, but just for good measure, Barry Evans followed with another slam and Essamvous connected on a trey on back-to-back trips for the Bonnies.

It was simply that kind of night for the Brown and White.

The Bonnies lead was 43 at one point as Niagara never stopped the momentum of their rivals following the opening minutes.

Ahmad Henderson II posted 13 points for Niagara to pace the Purple Eagles (1-6).

"We had a shaky start in the first four minutes, but then our guys really locked in," head coach Mark Schmidt said. "We shared the ball and we shot the heck out of the basketball. Defensively we did a really good job. We had an advantage inside with Chad and Noel and really took advantage of it and Mika took over. It was a complete game. We stayed committed to every possession and the results speak for themselves."

GAME NOTES

• Bona improved to 90-71 all-time vs. Niagara in the first meeting of the Western New York rivals since 2019. It was the longest the squads had gone between meetings since first getting together during the 1920-21 season.
• The Bonnies had their best offensive output vs. Niagara since a 95-63 win at the Reilly Center on Jan. 16, 1995.
• Adams-Woods was just one point off his previous career high in Saturday's win at Buffalo when he scored 20. His previous collegiate best of 21 points came in January 2022 at East Carolina while at Cincinnati.
• Barry Evans contributed a career-high 10 rebounds as he picked up his second consecutive start in the place of the injured Charles Pride.
• Essamvous finished with eight points and six rebounds.
• Every member of the Bona active roster saw playing time while walk-ons Broek Ostrom and Anthony Belardinelli each had their first career buckets.

 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies return home for their third consecutive rivalry game as they host Siena in the renewal of the Franciscan Cup series Saturday in the Reilly Center. Tip time is scheduled for 4 p.m.