ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Upon entering the Reilly Center for Monday night's men's basketball season opener, St. Bonaventure fans likely immediately were on the look out for a game program considering this year's Bonnies boast 10 newcomers and just one returning rotation player from a year ago.

While learning the new faces, Bonnies fans were treated to a 70-56 victory as the hosts outlasted visiting CSUN in a nearly wire-to-wire triumph.

Nine different Bona's players cracked into the scoring column, led by double-figure scoring from Chance Moore (18 points, nine rebounds), Lajae Jones (16 points) and Dasonte Bowen (11 points).

The home team led for 35:18 of game time and never trailed after the 15:43 mark of the first half.

The Bonnies pulled away slowly through a stop and start first half that saw both teams working through the kinks of Opening Night and double-digit newcomers on each roster.

St. Bonaventure gained control with a 15-2 run midway through the half to take a 12-point advantage.

Bona's defense forced 12 CSUN turnovers in the opening period, resulting in 12 points of offense. Melvin Council Jr. was active on both ends of the floor, posting nine points, four rebounds and three steals in the first 20 minutes.

Out of the locker room, though, the Matadors clawed closer as they got within 35-29 just under five minutes into the second half.

St. Bonaventure quickly turned the tables, however, embarking on an 11-2 sprint powered by Moore and Jones to change the momentum just four minutes later.

CSUN made one final bid for a comeback, closing to 63-51 following a three-pointer from Big West All-Preseason selection Keonte Jones.

The Matadors could not get a stop on the next trip down the floor, though, fouling and sending Noel Brown to the line where the grad captain made both for a 14-point lead and 2:45 to go, effectively putting the visitors' rally on ice.

Jones posted 16 points and nine rebounds to lead the Matadors and was the only CSUN player in double figures.

GAME NOTES

• CSUN finished the 2023-24 season with a record of 19-15.
• St. Bonaventure improved to 53-5 all-time in home openers at the Reilly Center and 13-5 overall in season openers under head coach Mark Schmidt. 
• SBU's starting lineup: Chance Moore, Dasonte Bowen, Lajae Jones, Melvin Council Jr., and Noel Brown. 
• Duane Thompson, Noah Bolanga and Xander Wedlow saw their first collegiate minutes; Thompson scored a point and secured a rebound in eight minutes played, while Wedlow tallied a rebound in four minutes played and Bolanga drained one of his three trey attempts.
• Throughout the first half, both teams combined for 20 turnovers (12 for CSUN, eight for SBU); the Bonnies capitalized by scoring 12 points off turnovers to the Matadors' five. For the night, the Bonnies registered 21 points of offense off 21 CSUN turnovers.
• Northridge mounted a 9-2 run early in the second half to cut their deficit to six points before Bonaventure responded with a 7-0 stretch to reclaim control. 
• Lajae Jones surpassed his previous Division I career-high point total of 13, which came against Kansas Christian while he was playing at Tarleton State (11/10/22). 
• Michael Folarin set a new personal single-game Division I high with three blocks, also adding six rebounds and two steals off the bench. His final +/- was +11, best of Bona's bench players.
• Both Keonte Jones and Marcus Adams Jr., who combined for 49 minutes played, fouled out for CSUN. 
• The Bonnies controlled the game's pace, leading in fast break points, 18-3. 
• Chance Moore grabbed a team-high nine rebounds at the guard position. 
• St. Bonaventure got to the foul line often, shooting 23-for-34 from the line as opposed to CSUN's 10-for-16. Dasonte Bowen went 9-for-13 at the charity stripe.
• Bona led the battle of the boards, 40-35, including 12 offensive rebounds.

 QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"We played relatively well. We didn't shoot the ball as well as we needed to. Thirty-two 3s (attempted) are way too much. We have to get the ball inside more. We were disjointed at times."

"I thought we had energy. Michael (Folarin) came off the bench and really gave us a lift in the first half when Noel had some foul trouble. I thought he was active. He had three blocks and six rebounds in 17 minutes and that was big. Lajae making some threes was big in giving him some confidence. We're disjointed at times, we're not smooth. That's just experience within the system. That team (CSUN) won 19 games last year, so it's a good victory, but we need to continue to improve and the more repetition and time in our system we have the better we'll get."

 "We're still learning. We don't have an identity yet. Coaches are still trying to figure out who's playing, who's not playing, who plays well with certain groups. That's something we're going to work on for the next two or three weeks. There are things we need to work on, but it's always good to work on things after a win."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to play at rival Canisius Saturday afternoon. Tip time in Buffalo is slated for 4 p.m.

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