ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Entering Wednesday night's game against La Salle, the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team brought no shortage of momentum following three wins over Atlantic 10 front runners.

And, at times Wednesday, the Bonnies built momentum that seemed as though might lead them to a fourth straight triumph.

In the end, though, La Salle snuffed out Bona's surge, holding on for a 76-70 victory.

All five Bonnies starters scored in double figures, led by 16 points apiece from Daryl Banks III and Chad Venning.

"We gave up too many open threes and couldn't get enough stops," St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. "We played better in the second half, but just didn't execute at the end. We had missed layups and a couple of possessions down one late where we didn't execute. Our guys fought, and give all the credit to La Salle, but it just wasn't there tonight."

The Bonnies (13-12, 7-5 A-10) grabbed a 23-17 lead following a thunderous put-back slam by Anquan Hill with just over eight minutes left in the half, but the rest of the opening stanza would belong to the visitors.

La Salle (11-13, 5-6) went on a 13-0 run behind laser accuracy from deep, sinking nine 3-pointers before halftime against a Bona squad that ranked sixth nationally in 3-point percentage defense entering the night.

Three-point excellence, and a 21-12 margin on the glass, sent La Salle to the break with a nine-point lead, 44-35.

Bona immediately turned the tide out of the locker room, however.

Yann Farell ignited the turnaround with 10 quick points as the Bonnies immediately whittled the La Salle lead down to a single possession.

The hosts took a 52-51 lead on a Moses Flowers trey just over five minutes into the half, but La Salle posted scores on its next two trips to reclaim the lead.

That was part of a trend that continued throughout the night – each time it seemed as though the Bonnies were primed to run ahead, La Salle quickly had other plans.

The Bonnies went back in front, 66-65, with 5:49 to play following a long ball from Banks.

From there, however, the Bonnies went quiet on the scoreboard for four minutes.

A put-back from Mamadou Doucoure pushed La Salle ahead, 67-66, and this time it would end up being for good. That started a 7-0 break for the Explorers as they took control late.

Josh Nickelberry posted a game-high 18 points for La Salle, winners of three straight games.


GAME NOTES

• La Salle went 10-for-25 from 3-point land for the game, going 1-8 in the second half after their red hot start. The Explorers still shot 52 percent overall from the floor and won the battle of the boards, 34-27.
• Banks added six rebounds, a team-high.
• Kyrell Luc handed out six assists and had 10 points.
• Bona owned a 38-30 scoring edge in the paint, largely due to the work of Venning inside. He finished 6-for-11 from the floor.
• The Bonnies lost for the first time this season when committing fewer fouls than an opponent (7-1), 17-16.
• SBU hopes that history repeats itself: 11 years ago, a Temple team led by current La Salle coach Fran Dunphy beat St. Bonaventure by the same 76-70 score at The RC. Bona would go on to win the A-10 Tournament and reach the NCAA Tournament that season.

 
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure travels to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne in the Steel City Saturday afternoon. Tip off is slated for 12:30 p.m. on USA Network.

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