PHILADELPHIA – For years, La Salle's Tom Gola Arena has served as something of a house of horrors for the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team.
Even in wins, the Bonnies seemingly always escape the venue only following a heartburn-inducing battle.
On Wednesday night, Bona could never truly get much going as La Salle led nearly wire-to-wire in a 72-59 victory.
La Salle started hot from long range, going 7-for-12 from beyond the arc for a five-point lead at the 6:30 mark of the first half.
A 9-2 run from the hosts ended the first half for a 36-28 lead at the break.
Chad Venning was the lone bright spot on the night for the Bonnies and he dominated at times inside, posting 12 points in the first half while no other player had more than five for SBU.
He had 20 with eight minutes left, but was forced to the bench with four fouls.
That allowed La Salle to take advantage and break the game open with a 14-3 sprint that spread the lead all the way to a 20-point margin.
Venning finished with a team-high 22 points, just one off his career high.
For La Salle, Daeshon Shepherd starred with 23 points to lead all scorers while Jhamir Brickus posted 15.
Moses Flowers scored 14 to give the Bonnies two players in double figures and Mika Adams-Woods had six rebounds and five assists.
La Salle (13-14, 4-10 A-10) shot 51 percent from the floor and drained 10 3-point attempts while the Bonnies finished at a 43 percent clip and 6-17 from deep.
The hosts owned a 30-24 advantage on the boards while the Bonnies mustered only three offensive rebounds.
St. Bonaventure (16-10, 7-7) will look to rebound Saturday afternoon when the Bonnies travel to UMass to take on the Minutemen at 2:30 p.m. on USA Network.
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