JONESBORO, Ark. – The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team (5-3) erased a 17-point deficit, but a last-second 3-pointer from Arkansas State (5-3) gave the Red Wolves a 73-70 win Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
With the Bonnies holding a 70-68 lead, the ball and under a minute to play, ASU’s Raeford Worsham stole the ball from Bonaventure’s Chris Johnson on the wing and turned it into a layup at the other end to tie the game at 70-70. On the ensuing SBU possession, Johnson got a great look from the baseline, but his 3-pointer was long, and Ed Townsel grabbed the rebound.
Arkansas State decided not to call a timeout, and Townsel took the ball the other way and pulled up for the game-winning 3-pointer with under three seconds remaining. Bonaventure got a great look on its final attempt as a full-court pass fromMatthew Wright found Demitrius Conger on the wing in front of SBU’s bench, but the senior’s 3-point attempt hit the back rim.
Johnson led all scorers and tied his career high for the fourth time this season with 19 points. Wright added 13 on a career-best 7-8 from the free-throw line, and Charlon Kloof reached double figures for the third time in the last four outings with 10 points.
Conger finished with eight points – the first time this season he’s failed to reach double-figure scoring – but grabbed a season-best 12 rebounds to move within three of 500 for his career. Sophomore Jordan Gathers provided a much-needed spark off the bench as all of his season-high eight points came in the second half.
As a team, a majority of SBU’s points came in the second half as it trailed by 14 at the break, 42-28, with the 28 points representing its lowest scoring output of a first half this season. However, sparked by Gathers and a re-energized defensive effort, the Bonnies trimmed the deficit in half not even four minutes into the second stanza. They completely erased the ASU lead with a Kloof 3-pointer with 7:49 remaining to tie the game, 56-56, and then took their first lead of the afternoon with another Kloof 3-pointer at the 6:23 mark. Bonaventure built a lead as large as four with under four minutes remaining, but dropped its third game of the year by fewer than five points.
After shooting a season-low 8-29 (27.6 percent) in the first half, Bonaventure connected at a season-best 57.1 percent in the second half. Also, after committing nine turnovers in the first half, the Brown and White gave the ball away just once in the second half.
Foul trouble was an issue throughout for both teams, particularly to the Bona frontline. Youssou Ndoye fouled out in just seven minutes of action, and Simmons was whistled for his four fouls in 27 minutes. ASU did a good job taking advantage of the SBU lack of depth in the opening half as it had 24 points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes, but the Bona defense locked down and limited the Red Wolves to just eight in the second half, compared with 18 for Bonaventure.
For the second straight game, Bonaventure went up against an opposing player who came into the game averaging a double-double, this time in the form of senior forward Brandon Peterson. However, unlike Siena’s O.D. Anosike, the Bonnies could not contain Peterson, who finished with a team-high-tying 18 points and game-best 13 rebounds. Worsham equaled Peterson’s scoring effort with 18, and Rakeem Dickerson added 12 for the Sun Belt member school.
St. Bonaventure will have a week off for final exams before returning to action next Saturday at home against Cleveland State at 2 p.m. There are a limited number of discounted $10 tickets available in the student section as the Athletic Department is encouraging regional alumni to return to the Reilly Center as part of a “Back to the Future” promotion. For more information, log on to GoBonnies.com.
GAME NOTES: Kloof missed a pair of free throws with 2:25 left and the Bonnies in front by three, 68-65 … ASU took advantage and hit a game-tying 3 on its next possession … Bonaventure’s first field goal of the opening half didn’t come until the 12:30 mark when Wright banked in a jumper, and its first 3-pointer came with just 20 seconds left in the opening frame when Johnson knocked down the first of 11 SBU tries from the wing … the trip to Arkansas marked just the fourth in SBU’s history, with all coming since the 2004-05 season, and the Bonnies are now 2-2 in such contests … Bona shot 16-23 from the free-throw line (69.6 percent), but just 5-9 (55.6 percent) in the second half.
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