By Paul Gotham
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — More than 30 days had passed since St. Bonaventure last won at the Reilly Center.
Sunday, the Bonnies made up for lost time.
Youssou Ndoye and Marcus Posley combined for 23 second-half points as Bona came from behind to defeat the Saint Joseph’s Hawks, 70-61 in Atlantic 10 conference play on Bob Lanier Court.
Ndoye and Posley scored 13 in a decisive 25-10 Bona run which started late in the first half and extended into the second.
“I thought we found ourselves,” St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “Going into halftime I thought we felt good about ourselves. We didn’t play well in the first half, and we were down by one. Second half I thought we came out with a lot more energy.”
Trailing by three early in the second half, Posley took a Jay Adams feed in the left corner and drilled one his five 3-pointers on the afternoon. At the other end of the floor, Ndoye stepped in a passing lane at the top of the key for a steal and went the length of the floor for a two-handed slam and the first Bonnies advantage of the game at 37-35.
They didn’t surrender the lead for the remainder of the contest.
“I was just trying to get our guys going,” Ndoye said. “I came out flat turning the ball over in the first half and missing a couple of defensive assignments. I was just trying to make a play.”
Posley extended the advantage to seven four minutes later. The junior guard rejected a Ndoye ball screen at the top of the key and finished in the lane. On the next trip, Jay Adams found Posley on the break for 3.
Saint Joseph’s took a timeout with 11:35 to go trailing 46-39.
“Everybody just rallied together,” Posley said. “We finally hit that point in the game where everybody was clicking with each other. Later in the stretch, execution is a must if you want to pull this one out. Guys dialed in, and we got the job done.”
But Saint Joseph’s responded.
DeAndre Bembry and Isaiah Miles connected on a pair of 3-pointers, and the Bona lead was just one at 55-54 with 5:41 left on the clock.
The Bonnies answered, and again Posley provided the dagger.
After Denzel Gregg hit a catch-and-shoot jumper with the shot clock running down, Posley provided the insurance on an inbound play when he took a Jay Adams pass and drilled a trey from the left corner.
“Coach drew up the play for if I had a good look to take the shot,” Posley explained. “If not to just get into the offense. Definitely, the only thing that was going through my head was to create separation. When Jaylen delivered it, I was able to hit the shot.”
“I thought our guys really executed the play to get Marcus the three,” Schmidt noted.
SBU led 60-54 with 2:37 to go.
“The last couple games my percentage has been fairly low, but definitely when you hit a shot like that late in the stretch it definitely makes you feel a lot better about stuff,” Posley said. “It gives you more confidence. It was a good time for me to hit the shot.”
The Bonnies converted 10-of-10 free throws in the game’s closing moments to seal the win. Jay Adams and Ndoye both hit the front end of one-and-ones.
“In the Atlantic 10 I tell the guys all the time it’s going to come down to the last two or three minutes, the last two or three possessions,” Schmidt said. “The team that can make the plays both offensively and defensively is going to win the game. We found a way to make those plays both offensively and defensively.”
The decisive run started late in the first half when SBU went into the locker room on a 7-0 run.
Dion Wright slithered through the lane against a 2-3 zone to finish at the rim. Jay Adams took a kick-out from Wright and connected from above the free throw line. Posley made it one-point game when he drained a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. Ndoye fought off a pair of defenders to tap an offensive rebound to Jay Adams who found Posley at the top of the key with 23 seconds remaining in the first stanza.
Bona trailed 29-28.
DeAndre Bembry sparked Saint Joseph’s to an early six-point advantage. The sophomore guard scored in the lane. He followed with a running one-hander along the baseline. Bembry’s pull-up three in transition made it 7-3. Aaron Brown pushed the lead to 9-3 with a jumper.
Bembry finished with a career-high and game-high 27 on 9-of-16 shooting including 6-of-9 behind the arc.
“You always want to stop the known,” Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said. “We didn’t do a good job on Bembry, but we did a pretty good job on the other guys.”
Bona responded with six straight. Ndoye finished with a dunk in transition. The senior center worked a pick-and-roll with Iakeem Alston and finished with a jump hook in the lane. Posley knotted the score at nine when he took a long lead from Alston and scored on the break.
The Hawks pushed the lead back to seven.
Javon Baumann and Bembry combined on a screen-and-roll with Baumann finishing. Bembry hit a three. James Demery made it 18-11 with a pull-up jumper.
But the Bonnies answered. Jay Adams and Posley put bookend 3-pointers around a Ndoye putback slam. Saint Joseph’s 20-19.
Bembry and Brown connected again from long range as part of 9-2 Hawks run to lead 29-21.
Bona beat UB, 72-63 on December 3rd. The Brown and White had lost two home games (Maryland Eastern Shore and Dayton) since then.
Posely hit 8-of-18 including 5-of-10 behind the arc for a team-high 23.
After hitting just 9-of-45 3-pointers over the last three games, the Bonnies connecting on 7-of-17 for the afternoon.
Ndoye added 15 with a team-high six rebounds and a career-high five assists.
Wright chipped in 14.
Jay Adams handed out a game-high six assists.
The Bonnies finished with 18 assists on 25 field goals while committing just seven turnovers.
Isaiah Miles tallied 10 for Saint Joseph’s.
SJU’s James Demery grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
The Bonnies outscored SJU in the paint (26-18), off turnovers (16-6) and on the fast break (9-2).
Brown led the Saint Joseph’s bench which outscored their counterparts, 11-2. SJU also tallied 13 second-chance points to the Bonnies 12.
SBU’s defense held Saint Joseph’s 38.6 percent (22-of-57) from the floor.
With the win Bona (10-6/3-2) joins Davidson, Rhode Island, UMass and Richmond tied for fourth in the A-10.
Dayton and VCU remain tied for first at 5-0. George Washington sits in third at 4-1.
The Bonnies play at Duquesne on Wednesday.
Saint Joseph’s (7-9/1-4), the reigning conference champions, host UMass, Wednesday.
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