KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Thursday's battle between unbeaten St. Bonaventure and similarly unblemished Utah State fittingly turned out to be a back-and-forth affair, but in the end, a second half cold spell proved to be the difference for the Bonnies as a late rally fell short, 72-67, in the opening round of the ESPN NIT Tip-Off at State Farm Field House.

Four Bonnies finished in double-figures: Dasonte Bowen had his highest scoring output of the year, finishing with 15 points and four assists. Noel Brown added 15 points while Melvin Council Jr. tallied a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Chance Moore chipped in 12 points, seven boards and four blocks.

Bona opened cold, not cracking into the scoring column until the game was 3:02 old, but their defense held down Utah State's high-flying offense.

Unable to take advantage of Bona's slow start, Utah State saw its early lead evaporate as the Bonnies caught fire before intermission.

An 8-0 run fueled by Moore saw the Bonnies make four straight field goals to move ahead for the first time, 25-22. In all, SBU made six of their last eight tries from the floor during the first half to open a 30-25 lead at the break.

Coming into the day, Utah State averaged a nearly 54 percent success rate overall from the field and nearly 42 percent from distance. During the first half, the Bonnies stifled those numbers to just 24 percent (9-38) and 11 percent (2-18) respectively.

Moore keyed the defensive effort in the first half, swatting a career-best four shots before the game hit the 10-minute mark.

Bona (6-1) crept out further as the second half began, moving ahead by a 41-33 tally as Moore drove the lane for the hoop and the harm just over three minutes in.

Utah State (6-0) started to turn the tables from there, though, as the Aggies began a 13-2 run to push back in front.

Compounding issues for the Bonnies, Brown was forced to sit with foul trouble with 12 minutes to play as Utah State began its game-changing spurt.

The Aggies grew their lead to 12, 64-52, with 2:53 to go as they began to show more of the signs that led them to the nation's best offensive output totals thus far in the first month of the year.

While it seemed as though Utah State had the game on ice, the Bonnies had one final charge.

Down eight as the clock ticked under a minute, Jonah Hinton poured in a three off a pass from Bowen to close to a 68-63 tally.

Council stole the in-bounds pass, and a foul sent Moore to the line where he made one of two to close within four.

Moore's fifth foul temporarily dampened the rally, but Lajae Jones drained a corner three to get the game down to a one-possession margin, 70-67, with 25 seconds remaining.

Bona again applied pressure, but the Aggies were able get the ball into the frontcourt, forcing the Bonnies to foul. Ian Martinez drained both at the line to put the game on ice, finally.

Mason Falslev, one of the Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week, led the Aggies with 15 points and Martinez recorded 14, although he was still six points off his season average of 20-plus.

GAME NOTES

• Utah State improved to 50 percent from the floor in the second half, and finished at 34 percent for the night, although just 6-28 from 3-point land. The Bonnies connected on 43 percent of their shot attempts and went 6-21 from range.
• USU led the battle of the boards, 44-40, including a 17-12 margin on the offensive glass, though those opportunities led to just four second chance points on the night.
• Bona outscored the Aggies in the paint, 36-28.
• Council posted his first double-double in a Bona uniform and was one rebound off his career-best of 13 set twice while playing at Wagner last season.
• Utah State is receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches' Top 25 polls this week. Bona still held the Aggies 26 points below their season average thus far of over 98 ppg.
• Bona's 6-0 start was its best since 1973.
• Bowen turned in the second-highest scoring game of his Division I career, behind only a 17-point effort vs. Arkansas State last year while at Iowa.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"They're the number one team (nationally) in scoring; they're really good. We did a decent job defensively. We had a tough time against their ball screen stuff in the middle of the court. In the first half we scrapped; it wasn't pretty. The second half, they went on some runs, but we gave ourselves a chance. It was a good effort, we just didn't execute the way we needed to."

"They play that matchup and they're good at it. We need to make some shots on the perimeter, but I thought we attacked it a little better the last five or six minutes. Our guys fought, and that's what I like to see."

"We have 24 hours to prepare for the next one. It's like the Atlantic 10 Tournament; that's why we play tournaments like this. We'll go back, get some rest, watch some tape and try to win tomorrow."
 
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure will play vs. the loser of North Texas/Northern Iowa Friday at 9 p.m. in the third-place game. The game will have a national TV broadcast on ESPNU.

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