LEWISBURG, Pa. – St. Bonaventure hit the throttle early and led wire-to-wire in a convincing victory Wednesday night at Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion, 64-47.

Chance Moore's 17 points paced the Bonnies attack while Noel Brown added 14 and Dasonte Bowen chipped in 11.

Defense was the story on this night as the Bonnies proved to be impolite guests, holding Bucknell to just 38 percent shooting overall while causing 18 turnovers.

The Bonnies (8-1) dominated out of the gates, breaking out for a 21-4 run to move ahead 27-11 just past the under-8 media timeout.

Bona's lead continued to swell as the visitors grabbed a 38-16 cushion at halftime, thanks in large part to Moore who could not miss in the opening 20 minutes.

The senior guard went 6-for-6 from the floor including a trio of 3-pointers for 15 points before the break.

Bonaventure's defense was locked in from the outset, limiting Bucknell to 29 percent shooting in the first half while forcing 12 turnovers including seven steals.

Bucknell never threatened much from there on.

Lajae Jones drained a three on the second half's opening possession and the Bonnies didn't look back.

Bona's led grew to as much as 32 during the second half before the Bison (4-6) chipped closer down the stretch.

Bucknell did not have any players reach double-figure scoring and were led by Davidson transfer Achile Spadone who had nine points.

GAME NOTES

• Moore has posted double-digit scoring in all but one game this season. He reached double figures before the last media timeout of the opening half Wednesday night.
• The Bonnies played their first game at Bucknell since 2008. Bona improved to 7-2 all-time vs. the Bison and 3-1 on campus in Lewisburg.
• Bucknell's 47 points are the fewest by a Bonnies opponent since SBU held Cleveland State to 42 in a win at home on Dec. 7, 2022.
• St. Bonaventure had 13 steals in the game and now has a total of 27 combined swipes in the last two games. Bona ranked 28th nationally entering the week by allowing under 63 points per game on average while their steal average of 8.9 stood 57th in the country. 
• Bona won the battle of the boards, 36-31.
• Bowen filled the stat sheet, adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals in addition to his 11 points.
• Michael Folarin contributed four points off the bench and Noah Bolanga had a career-high three assists.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"We're playing unselfishly. Our offense, we had good pace, especially in the first half. We have guys that want to win."

"We have to go inside to Noel. We have to get paint touches off the dribble and stuff in transition. We had 30 points in the paint, and a lot of that came in the first half. We were active. We're not a great half court offensive team. We need to get stuff off our defense and in the open court and we did that in the first 30 minutes of the game."

"Some (different) guys had opportunities to play today and when you get that chance you need to produce. Producing isn't necessarily scoring; it's taking care of the ball, it's defending. We had guys who were able to do that tonight."
 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies return home to the Reilly Center to host rival Buffalo Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Tickets for Saturday's game are available by clicking here.