ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – It wasn't quite the 20-point rally of a week earlier, but the comeback kids otherwise known as the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team were at it again Wednesday night as the Bonnies roared back from 13 down for a 79-73 win over visiting UMass.

After watching the Minutemen build a double-digit first half advantage, the Bonnies were in rally mode for much of the night, continuing to fight only to see UMass find an answer.

In the end, the Bonnies finally got over the hump in the final minutes led by four players in double figures: Charles Pride posted 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting while both Mika Adams-Woods and Chad Venning recorded 15 each and Moses Flowers chipped in 14. Pride tallied 14 of his points after halftime.

With the win, the Bonnies improve to 14-8 overall and 5-5 in Atlantic 10 play while UMass has the same exact record.

"We have guys that stay together no matter what," Adams-Woods said. "We know every game in this conference is going to be a dogfight, but we stay together and that's the most important thing."

Bona scored the first seven points, but UMass immediately responded with a 20-4 run to surge ahead.

The early going belonged to the Minutemen as they extended their lead to a game-high 13 points, 34-21, with 3:59 left in the first half.

Flowers initiated the rally by scoring eight points during a 10-0 Bonaventure run to get back within three, ultimately settling for a four-point deficit at the break as Daryl Banks III beat the buzzer with a long trey.

As the second half got underway, the Minutemen were able to keep the Bonnies just behind as the hosts would get within a possession time and again only for UMass to answer with a bucket.

Out of the under-8 media timeout, Venning finally gave the Bonnies the equalizer with a hook shot in the lane for a 63-63 tie, but UMass scored the next two buckets to momentarily reestablish control.

Finally, Adams-Woods gave the Bonnies their first lead since the opening minutes with a traditional 3-point play at the 5:35 mark.

Matt Cross put the Minutemen back in front with two at the line, 73-72, with 2:26 left, however.

Soon, though, the Bonnies would finally be in front for good.

A driving layup from Flowers put the Bonnies ahead on the next trip down the court – and they would never trail again.

Neither team could find a key bucket after Flowers' drive of the lane, though, as the one-point spread remained for nearly two minutes.

Venning gave Bona a bit of breathing room with two shots at the line for a 76-73 score, and an attempt for the tie by Josh Cohen missed the mark as the clock ticked under 10 seconds.

Following a defensive rebound, the Bonnies got free for a fast break and Venning provided the exclamation point with a thunderous dunk, sending the Bona fans home happy.

"We got off to a great start, then we went into a lull. UMass was more physical than us in the first half," head coach Mark Schmidt said. "In the second half, we got points off of our defense and we didn't do that much in the first half. We did a better job driving the ball and we got to the foul line. We responded in the second half and we just played better; with more urgency."

Cross led UMass with 19 points. Keon Thompson added 16 points and seven boards.

While the Bonnies may not be a finished product as the calendar moves to the stretch drive of the season, there's one thing that's for sure after the last week.

"We don't quit," Schmidt said. "We have some character guys and we responded."

GAME NOTES

• The Bonnies shot 51 percent for the game including better than 55 percent in the second half while UMass shot at a 48 percent clip. The Minutemen also held a narrow edge on the glass, 34-32.
• The stats at the line were flipped from the norm – on average, UMass makes 16 free throws per game, most in the A-10. The Minutemen went just 11-for-16 Wednesday. Bona, meanwhile, is the league's best free throw shooting team percentage-wise at over 78 percent but gets to the line the least. On this night, though, SBU had 28 attempts from the stripe thanks to 24 UMass fouls but settled for just 19-for-28 at the line. Still, the 19-11 edge in free throw points turned out to be the defining stat differential. 
• Venning swatted four shots, all in the first half.
• Assa Essamvous chipped in with eight rebounds and three assists in addition to four points.
• Noel Brown contributed eight points off the bench.
• The Bonnies won for just the second time when trailing at the half this year (2-6).
• SBU avenged a loss at UMass in the last meeting between the programs and has now won 11 of the last 12 games including six in a row at home dating to 2016.

 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies remain at home to host Duquesne Saturday afternoon. Tip time is scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Reilly Center.

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