ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure led wire-to-wire and held off a late charge from visiting Buffalo for a 65-55 win Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.

Chance Moore delivered a game-high 16 points while Melvin Council Jr. and Jonah Hinton each netted 12.

With the win, St. Bonaventure improves to 9-1 on the season for just the second time through 10 games since 1970-71.

Bona sprinted out of the gates, opening the game up on a 10-0 run that extended to 17-5 while Buffalo failed to score for the first 5:08.

That hot start turned icy after a few minutes, though, as the Bulls pulled back within four.

Council finally broke a four-plus minute scoring drought as an extra pass from Dasonte Bowen found the senior captain open in the corner for a trey.

That triple began a 7-0 run, highlighted by a steal and a monstrous dunk by Lajae Jones as the lead grew to 10 again at halftime.

Buffalo was able to keep within striking distance while the Bonnies continued to tease spurts that would put the game away before stalling.

Back-to-back buckets from Michael Folarin pushed the advantage to a game-high 14 with just over 13 minutes left, but the Bulls continued to hang around.

A layup from Brayden Jackson inched the Bulls back to a six-point margin with 1:45 showing on the clock.

After a Bona miss, the Bulls had two opportunities to draw within three as Tyson Dunn was off the mark from distance. UB had one more chance beyond the arc, but sharpshooter Ryan Sabol's corner three was short off the iron, allowing Moore to pull down the rebound.

UB fouled and Bowen made both at the line.

Following a Bulls turnover, Moore put the game on ice with a dunk.

Sabol and Bryson Wilson each had 14 points to lead Buffalo (5-5).

GAME NOTES

• Bowen had a team-high six assists.
• Jones set a new career-high in minutes played by logging the full 40 while his eight rebounds and four steals also match his D-I bests.
• Folarin recorded six points and five rebounds in nine minutes off the bench.
• St. Bonaventure has their best start through 10 games since the 2020-21 season. St. Bonaventure went on to win the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament crowns that year. Prior to that, Bona's last 9-1 open to a season came in 1970-71.
• The Bonnies never trailed Saturday and held the lead for all but 34 seconds of game time.
• Bonaventure came into the game averaging 9.3 steals a game and had a team total of 10 on Saturday. Jones recorded a team-leading four, his second consecutive game of four swipes.
• St. Bonaventure's home record vs. Buffalo goes to 8-1 while the Bonnies are 13-5 all-time overall against their Big 4 foe.
• Bonaventure outscored Buffalo 30-24 in the paint. The Bonnies have won the battle in paint points in every game thus far.
• Hinton recorded double-figure scoring for the fourth time this season and first since Nov. 6 vs. Le Moyne.  
• St. Bonaventure has held opponents to 61 or fewer points six times this season. The Bonnies ranked 19^th nationally in scoring defense by allowing just over 61 ppg on average entering this weekend.

 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"I thought we got off to a great start. We created a lot of offense off of our defense. We were up 10-0 and then we got into our lull. Defensively, I thought we hung in there. Offensively it was just sluggish. We're trying to learn how to play with each other, trying to learn what's a good shot. We're passing up good shots and we're taking contested shots. Our defense has to be the staple this year and I thought it was. I thought we did a really good job with turning them over 19 times."

"I think we're good on the ball. Our ball screen defense wasn't great today, but it was okay. We're having decent rotations. We're getting our hands on passes. Forcing 19 turnovers, that is a credit to our guys, and their point guard had 10. We try to pressure the ball and I thought we did a good job at that. We just have to get better offensively."

"Mike (Folarin) gave us a big lift. I thought if there was an MVP of the game it was Mike. He was a +9 (in +/- ratings). That's what we need from guys coming off the bench. They don't necessarily need to score points, but they need to give energy. Mike did a good job on the ball screen defense. Hopefully that gives him some confidence going forward."

UP NEXT
The Bonnies are off this week for finals before returning to competition Dec. 14 vs. Providence in the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase in Uncasville, Conn. A national TV broadcast will be set for 5 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. 

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