ST. BONAVENTURE, NY – Frank Mitchell posted 25 points and three other Bonnies scored in double figures, but the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team fell to George Mason, 77-73, Saturday night (Jan. 31) at the Reilly Center.  
 
Mitchell shot 9-for-13 from the field and snagged six rebounds. Dasonte Bowen finished with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting and a team-best eight assists. Cayden Charles contributed 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting and swiped a career-best-tying four steals. Buddy Simmons II added 10 points while making multiple three-pointers (2-of-4) for the fourth straight game.
 
FIRST HALF
The Bonnies (13-9, 2-7 Atlantic 10) jumped out to a 6-0 start behind scores from Bowen, Mitchell and Charles. Bowen rattled in an and-one jumper less than a minute later to grow SBU's lead to 9-2. 
 
George Mason (20-2, 8-1 A-10) battled back, cutting its deficit to 13-10. Bonaventure proceeded to score eight straight points off a Charles jumper and back-to-back triples from Joe Grahovac and Simmons II to go up 21-10 with 10:58 remaining.  
 
The Patriots later trimmed the margin to five, but Simmons II canned a three-pointer to keep the Bonnies' edge at multiple possessions, 24-16. Daniel Egbuniwe connected on a three to extend SBU's lead back to double-digits, 28-17, with 6:56 to go. 
 
Bowen finished a layup to give Bonaventure its largest lead of the half, 38-24, with less than two minutes left. The Bonnies ultimately held a 39-31 advantage at the break, forcing 10 turnovers and holding GMU to 0-for-7 from behind the arc. 
 
SECOND HALF
St. Bonaventure matched every George Mason threat through the first four-and-a-half minutes of the frame, holding a 50-40 edge following a Charles and-one layup with 15:28 to play. Four plays after, Grahovac threw down a monstrous reverse slam dunk to put the Bonnies up 12. SBU maintained a double-digit advantage over the next seven minutes behind seven points from Mitchell in that span.  
 
The Patriots responded down the stretch, however, going on a 10-3 run to cut their deficit to 69-65 at 3:49. George Mason got within a point, 70-69, after canning a triple with 2:08 left.  
 
A free throw from Mitchell gave the Bonnies a 71-69 lead with 1:49 remaining. GMU tied the contest for the first time,71-71, through a layup the ensuing possession.  
 
Mitchell got to the line again with 59.9 to go, hitting another free throw to go up a point. On the next play, George Mason took its first lead of the game, 73-72, off a putback layup before a SBU timeout.  
 
Out of the stoppage, Mitchell created contact and made it to the charity stripe one more time, hitting one-of-two to tie the score at 73 with 21 seconds left. The Patriots then drew a foul, knocking down a pair of free throws to take 75-73 edge with four seconds on the clock. 
 
With a chance to tie or win the game, the Bonnies turned the ball on their last possession. George Mason drained two free throws after, sealing a 77-73 victory.
 
UP NEXT
The Bonnies will play their first of two straight road games against Dayton on Tuesday (Feb. 3) at UD Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network. 
 
NOTES:

• With eight assists, Dasonte Bowen is now averaging 5.7 assists per game in conference play.
• Bowen is averaging 16.7 points per game over his last three games.
• Buddy Simmons II is shooting 48.3 percent (28-for-58) from three-point range in nine conference games.
• Cayden Charles has scored at least nine points in 13 straight games.