ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – There may not have been anyone happier that the Saint Joseph's Hawks were coming to town Friday night than St. Bonaventure's Daryl Banks III.

After all, he poured in a career-high 36 points the last time the two teams squared off inside the Reilly Center.

Fast forward 11 months and Banks recreated that history as he was on fire, scoring 29 points while adding five assists on 9-of-13 shooting as the Bonnies flew past the Hawks, 91-72, on national television in front of a raucous crowd.

Bona's fifth-year guard tied his career high with seven 3-pointers, going 7-for-11 from deep.

Banks was one of three Bonnies to cross the 20-point plateau as Moses Flowers delivered 23 and Chad Venning finished with 21.

Saint Joseph's (13-7, 3-4 A-10) started hot, connecting on 10 of 18 field goal attempts including 5-for-8 from long range as the visitors grabbed a 25-19 lead.

Moses Flowers dropped in 10 quick points while hitting five of six field goal tries as the Bonnies pulled within three at the under-8 media timeout.

Flowers and Banks sparked what became a 14-2 Bonaventure run for a 45-41 lead at halftime.

Banks needed only 13 minutes of court time to score his first 17 and the Bonnies seemed ready to take command.

As the second half started, the Hawks pulled back in front three minutes into the period on a jumper in the lane by Xzayvier Brown.

Saint Joseph's ideas of stretching their three-game winning streak were shortlived, however.

A steal by Mika Adams-Woods led to a three in transition from Flowers following an assist from Banks, and the Bonnies were off to the races.

Bona (12-7, 3-4) would never trail again, finishing the game on a 38-18 run.

In the second half, the Bonnies shot 60 percent from the floor (18-30). The defense led to much of that scoring – Bona forced 17 Hawks turnovers which resulted in 29 points of offense.

Four Saint Joseph's players finished in double figures, led by Cameron Brown's 16 points.

Barry Evans had a do-it-all game for the Bonnies, finishing with four points, six assists, seven rebounds and two steals.

GAME NOTES

• SBU had three players score 20 points or more in the same game for the first time since Nov. 12, 2016 when Jaylen Adams, Denzel Gregg and Matt Mobley all did so vs. Saint Francis (PA).
• Banks' 29 points are the most by a Bonnies player this season. He was one point off his fourth career 30-point effort.
• The Bonnies had 23 assists on 36 made field goals and their 12 3-pointers tied a season-high last set in the win at VCU earlier this month.
• Banks led a 42-point effort from the Bonnies bench, the most this year behind only a 46-point bench performance in a win over Binghamton in December.
• Banks matched the seven 3-pointers he made in a win over Bowling Green last season.
• The game moved at a swift pace thanks to very few whistles – a total of 15 fouls were called in the entire game, eight against Saint Joseph's and seven to the Bonnies.
• Evans surpassed his previous career high in assists of four set in the Binghamton game.
• Adams-Woods had three of Bona's 11 steals, a season-high for the team.
• Venning went 10-for-13 from the floor, added four offensive rebounds and had two blocks.
• At a media timeout during the game, the Bonnies honored the 2004 St. Bonaventure baseball Atlantic 10 Champions in honor of their 20^th anniversary.

 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies are back at home again on national TV Tuesday night as VCU visits the Reilly Center. Tip time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.