Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
St. Bonaventure proved the axiom of it is not how you start, it is how you finish on Tuesday night. The Bonnies rallied from a late deficit, outscoring Hofstra 13-3 down the stretch to leave Long Island with a 81-75 win.
The Bonnies led 48-36 at halftime but saw the Pride come back to take the lead early in the second half. Hofstra led 72-68 with 5:17 left but Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley sparked the comeback. Mobley’s three-pointer with 4:03 left gave St. Bonaventure a 73-72 lead, and the Bonnies’ defense made a final stand, limiting the Pride to a lone three-pointer the rest of the way.
Adams and Mobley made two free throws each to extend the lead to 81-75 with 1:40 left.
St. Bonaventure won its fifth in a row to improve to 6-2, while Hofstra fell to 6-4.
Adams tied his career high with 31 points and he added eight rebounds and five assists. Mobley scored 23 points and set a career high with 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the year. The Bonnies outrebounded Hofstra 48-35.
How It Happened:
The game was tied at 11 at the first media timeout, but hulking Hofstra center Rokas Gustys got Josh Ayeni in early foul trouble and Ayeni had to leave the game.
Adams got hot and helped spark a 9-2 run that gave St. Bonaventure a 20-14 lead by the 12:19 mark. Adams scored eight points by then.
It was a tie game at 27-27 when David Andoh and Denzel Gregg helped push the Bonnies ahead. Andoh found open spaces inside the Hofstra zone and made two straight jumpers to make it a 31-27 game.
It was a 37-34 Bona lead when Gregg scored on a put-back and Adams made a three-pointer that sparked a closing 11-2 run by the Bonnies. St. Bonaventure led 48-36 at halftime.
Rebounding was a decided advantage for the Bonnies in the first half as they held a 29-13 edge on the glass.
Hofstra opened the second half hot, taking advantage of some Bonnies turnovers. The Pride went on a 16-6 run to start the half that tied the score at 54-54 by the 14:14 mark.
The Pride held a 72-68 edge with 5:15 to play, but the Bonnies went on a 9-0 run to seize control. A Brian
Bernardi three cut the lead back to 77-75 with 2:25 remaining, but Adams and Mobley each made a pair of free throws around a defensive stop to end the Hofstra rally.
St. Bonaventure held Hofstra off the board for the final 2:25 of game time to pull away late.
Bona won the battle of the boards, 48-35.
Beyond The Boxscore:
Adams has scored 20-plus points in four straight games and is now averaging 23.4 points per game for the season while shooting over 46 percent from the floor. The backcourt duo of Adams and Mobley entered the game averaging a combined 43 points per night and paired for 54 points on Tuesday.
Andoh has now scored in double figures in three straight contests. Freshman Tareq Coburn made a homecoming of sorts on Tuesday night. The Rosedale, N.Y. native played three minutes off the bench.
St. Bonaventure avenged a loss last season to the Pride and now leads the all-time series, 4-1.
Up Next: St. Bonaventure returns to the Reilly Center to host UNC-Wilmington this Saturday, Dec. 10, at 6 p.m. The Seahawks were the preseason choice to win the Colonial Athletic Association after reaching the NCAA Tournament last year.
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