ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – For four years, a player with the name Adams on his back guided the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team to big victories inside the Reilly Center.

Sunday afternoon, an Adams showed the way to victory again, but instead of former Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Jaylen Adams wearing the Brown and White, this time it was his younger brother, Brendan, who sparked visiting George Washington with his 28 points as the Colonials squeaked past the Bonnies, 83-81, in overtime.

For a long time, it seemed as though the Bonnies might not be able to make it a game late, then it seemed like it was their game to lose.

"It was a great crowd for Homecoming Weekend and we didn't give them much to cheer about for a long while," head coach Mark Schmidt said. "The guys made a great effort to get back in the game. It was almost like (GW) won, we won, and then we gave it back to them."

Down 18 with under nine minutes to play, the Bonnies used a 13-3 run in the last minutes to get within one, 71-70, with 18 seconds left.

Adams sank one of two at the line for a two-point edge, giving the hosts one final possession with a chance to tie or take the lead.

After two missed layup efforts, the ball ended up in the hands of Kyrell Luc who delivered the game-tying jumper with half a second left on the clock.

In overtime, it seemed as though the Bonnies were in control, ahead 81-77 with 40 seconds left.

Already rallied from 18 points down, the Bonnies seemingly had the visitors shellshocked, with the crowd of 4,760 roaring. 

Adams would then hit his biggest shot of the day, a trey with 27 seconds to go, to pull within one.

A missed Bonnies free throw allowed the Colonials one last chance.

Then, a Bona foul on a deep step-back three attempt sent James Bishop to the line for three shots, down a point. The A-10's leading scorer knocked down all three with 2.2 seconds to go, vaulting the visitors to a wild victory as a desperation heave at the buzzer was no good. 

Chad Venning led the Bonnies with 22 points and eight rebounds with Daryl Banks III posting 18 points. Moses Flowers finished with 15.

During regulation, GW (13-14, 7-7) led for over 33 minutes of game time.

The second half rally capped by Luc's tying bucket as regulation ended, the Bonnies finally went ahead following a jumper by Moses Flowers two minutes into overtime which gave the Bonnies their first lead since 9-8.

At that point, the Bonnies (13-15, 7-8) owned all the momentum, considering the mountain they climbed to get back into the game and then surge ahead.

Ultimately, though, it would be the Colonials – led by Adams as well as Bishop's 25 points – who would prevail.

The Bonnies could not find traction offensively from the outset.

SBU went 1-for-11 from 3-point land in the first 12 minutes and a 1-for-14 stretch overall from the floor set the stage for what was to come.

In the first period, Venning posted 11 points, but outside of his work inside, the Bonnies went a combined 3-for-26 from the floor as the Colonials ran to the break up 11.

GW would stretch its lead to as high as 18, 55-37, with 8:55 left before the Bonnies roared back.

The Bonnies worked their deficit down to nine, 57-48, with six minutes to go, but on the next trip with a chance to continue the rally, a 3-attempt from Yann Farell went off the rim. Adams followed with a running jumper as the Colonials were able to maintain a comfortable edge for a time.

The defensive intensity turned up for the Bonnies, though, as they forced 19 turnovers by the Colonials. And, the shots finally started to fall.

Bona sank seven of their last eight field goal tries prior to the final possession of regulation, the earlier offensive woes suddenly a thing of the past. 

Banks helped spark the rally, scoring all of his 18 points, and five 3-pointers, after halftime. 

"The guys gave a great effort and showed character to come back," Schmidt said. "That just makes it more disappointing that we couldn't make a foul shot, get that rebound, and not foul at the end. We'll learn from it and get better."

GAME NOTES

• GW led on the boards, 43-35, while shooting 51 percent from the floor (29-57). SBU shot 38 percent for the game (29-76) but improved to a 49 percent clip in the second half. 
• The Bonnies turned GW's 19 turnovers into 22 points of offense. Conversely, the Bonnies committed only eight turnovers leading to five points for GW. 
• Luc posted 12 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
• Brett Rumpel finished with career highs in points (6) and assists (4).
• The Bonnies dropped below .500 in Atlantic 10 play at least five games into a season for the first time since starting 2-4 in 2017-18.  

 
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure travels to Davidson to take on the Wildcats Wednesday night. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.