ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Last Saturday, viewers watching St. Bonaventure score a strong road win at UMass on national TV would've immediately been taken to Chicago where, if they stuck around, they would've seen a Loyola team dismantle George Mason for their seventh win in a row.

It reaffirmed Loyola Chicago's resurgence and turnaround from the bottom of the Atlantic 10 standings a year ago into a first-place club entering this week and one with national Top 25 votes to its name.

Tuesday night, though, it was St. Bonaventure putting the A-10 on notice as it dominated the Ramblers for much of the evening inside the Reilly Center on the way to an impressive 79-64 victory.

While Bona's students are on break, those in attendance still made plenty of noise thanks to the way the Bonnies played nearly start to finish.

Oh, the Bonnies did come out of the gates slow.

St. Bonaventure went the first four minutes without scoring but were only down 6-2 by the time a turnaround jumper by Assa Essamvous fell through the net for Bona's first points.

That ignited a spark in the Bonnies as they turned the tables for a 14-0 run while Loyola went scoreless for over four minutes.

The run expanded to 17-2 as Bona pulled ahead, 19-11.

Loyola ended the Bonnies' sprint only to see another begin.

A second 10-0 break for the hosts allowed the Bonnies to stretch their lead to 16 just before the half.

Bona's defense caused havoc for the Ramblers during the first half. St. Bonaventure forced 13 Loyola turnovers and held a 19-0 margin in points off turnovers by intermission.

Any concerns of returning struggles were immediately erased as the Bonnies looked more like the team that has at times looked like a true A-10 contender than the one that was 7-7 in league play less than a week ago.

The Bonnies led by 21 with nine minutes left and though Loyola got within 68-56 with 4:45 to play, the Ramblers would get no closer.

This win meant a little extra in the Bonaventure history books as well: It marked the 300^th win for head coach Mark Schmidt at the helm of the program. He became just the sixth Atlantic 10 coach to reach that milestone.

"I've been here a long time. We've had really good players, and it's players who win games," Schmidt said, adding a nod to Daryl Banks III and Moses Flowers who sat beside him in the postgame press conference. "Guys like these two. I've been really lucky to coach guys like this."

Banks had another of his patented Reilly Center showcases – this time delivering a game-high 26 points, just three off his season-best. Flowers put in a do-it-all effort of 12 points, eight rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Honored in pregame for reaching 1,000 career points last time out, Chad Venning was strong again with 18 points, six boards and two blocks in just over 20 minutes of action.

With the win, the Bonnies improve to 18-10 overall and 9-7 in A-10 play while Loyola Chicago now stands 20-8, 12-3. 

One of the top defensive teams in the nation, Loyola entered the night surrendering just 59 points per game. The Bonnies never wavered after the slow start, however, shooting 50 percent from the floor after opening 0-5.

The Bonnies got the Ramblers into foul trouble and were nearly perfect at the foul line, going 26-for-29 including a 12-12 effort by Banks.

Loyola also came in as the A-10's best 3-point shooting team percentage-wise, but struggled on this night, going 10-for-31 from distance, shooting 15 percent under their season average from deep.

Philip Alson led Loyola with 12 points and Braden Norris added 11 points, seven assists, but the Ramblers point guard was also charged with five turnovers.

"We can't be satisfied," Banks said. "Our goal was to go 4-0 after the La Salle game but we have to get the next one to get there. We have to come to play every day."

GAME NOTES

• Schmidt joins five other coaches in a fraternity of A-10 leaders to score 300 victories in the conference: John Chaney (Temple, 516), Phil Martelli (Saint Joseph's, 454), Chris Mooney (Richmond, 346), Gale Catlett (West Virginia, 333) and Jim Baron (St. Bonaventure and Rhode Island, 333).
• With their 18^th win of the season, the Bonnies have reached that win total 10 times under Schmidt's watch.
• Charles Pride added nine points while Noel Brown (eight points, three rebounds) and Barry Evans (two points, six rebounds, two assists, four blocks) both added sparks off the bench.
• Banks tallied his second 20-point game of the year and ninth in a Bonnies uniform.
• Bona forced Loyola Chicago into 19 turnovers, well above their season average of 12.8.
• Loyola Chicago was the lone A-10 team Schmidt had not previously beaten. It was just the second time the Bonnies have played the Ramblers in the past six decades and they moved to 3-3 vs. Loyola all-time with their first win since a 1952 meeting at the Buffalo Aud.
• SBU finished +20 in points off turnovers (24-4) and +1 on the glass (35-34).
• Evans established a new career-high in blocks with four while Flowers tied his career-best in steals with five. Flowers' eight rebounds are his most in the Bonnies uniform.
• Bona's improved to 50-21 during the month of February since 2016. 
• In a bit of irony, Schmidt recorded his 300th career win at St. Bonaventure over a Loyola Chicago program that is now overseen by Director of Athletics Steve Watson. Watson hired Schmidt when he was in that role at Bonaventure and was in attendance at Tuesday's game.

 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies are off this weekend and will next travel to George Washington for a date in the nation's capital Wednesday, March 6. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m.

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