ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – Deuce Jones banked home the game-winning three-pointer on a last-second heave to send La Salle to an 83-82 win in overtime Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.

Jones' third three of the day was by far the loudest as he got a shot off between two defenders following an in-bounds pass. It fell through the net with 0.3 seconds remaining to shock the Bonnies.

Lajae Jones recorded a career-high 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor and scored 14 of the Bonnies' first 22 points on the day.

St. Bonaventure (14-3, 2-2 A-10) had moments where it appeared ready to pull away – Noel Brown drained a three before the halftime buzzer for a four-point lead.

The advantage grew to nine, 45-36, with 15:27 to play.

The Bonnies could not put away the Explorers, though, and the teams shared 14 ties and 13 lead changes.

Brown and Melvin Council Jr. tried to push the Bonnies over the top late.

Free throws from Bona's fifth-year center broke ties of 65-65 and 67-all while Council stepped to the line with the score knotted again before sinking two shots for a 71-69 lead.

Demetrius Lilley's three pushed La Salle back in front with 1:19 left and a Bonnies turnover followed by a Jahlil White layup made it seem as though the Explorers might win in regulation.

A three-point play by Council tied the game.

La Salle nearly won the game at the regulation horn, but a tip-in attempt rimmed out.

The extra period was never separated by more than three points, but after a 3-point Bona's edge, Daeshon Shepherd tied the game at 80 with a trey of his own.

Council's driving layup made it a two-point Bona lead with 1:56 to go and would be the final bucket until Jones' heroics.

Seemingly every time the Bonnies made a miscue, the Explorers capitalized.

La Salle tallied 27 points off turnovers and won the turnover battle, 14-6.

Lilley finished with 16 points and eight boards for the Explorers (9-7, 1-2).

Brown recorded 17 points and eight boards, going 10-for-12 at the foul line. Council had 16 for Bona and for both team captains it marked their seventh consecutive game of double-figure scoring.

GAME NOTES

• St. Bonaventure was outscored in the paint for the first time this season, 28-26.
• Bona shot 47 percent from the floor (25-53) and La Salle connected on 43 percent of its attempts (29-67). SBU won the rebounding battle, 36-33, but La Salle totaled 12 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second chance points.
• Jones' previous career-high of 16 points came twice, both in the season-opener vs. CSUN and a win over Niagara last month.
• Jones had nearly a perfect shooting day: He went 8-for-9 overall and 4-4 at both the foul line and beyond the arc.
• Jonah Hinton produced 12 points, all coming on four 3-pointers.
• Bona's last overtime game was a double OT triumph over Loyola Chicago in last year's Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, 75-74.
• St. Bonaventure welcomed back members of its 1967-68 NCAA Tournament team that went 22-0 during the regular season. That year's squad is one of 20 teams all-time to enter the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated record and the Bonnies eventually finished 23-2. Several members of the team were honored during halftime. 

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"Give La Salle credit, they made the plays when they needed to. Everyone will talk about the last shot, but it shouldn't have come down to that. It's attention to details; when you give up 27 points off turnovers it's amazing that the game was that close. You can't lose by 21 in points off turnovers and win. That's what we've been doing to teams and why we've had success. We made 11 3s, but they made 13. We're having a hard time keeping guards in front of us. Every time we made a mistake, they made us pay."

"We played hard, we just didn't play smart. We need to get back to doing the little things. Teams and players never stay the same; you either get better or you get worse. If you don't continue to work, you're not going to improve. We need to go back to the drawing board and make sure we're doing what we're supposed to do, especially on the defensive end."
 
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure remains at home to host Richmond Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by clicking here.

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