Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
St. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Matt Mobley scored 23 points to lead five players in double figures and St. Bonaventure’s defense was superb as the Bonnies topped Northeastern 84-65 on Wednesday night at the Reilly Center.
The Bonnies earned their sixth straight win and improved to 9-2. Both the win streak and the start to the season are the best for the program since 1999-00.
Against a quality Northeastern club that came in shooting nearly 48 percent for the season, St. Bonaventure limited the Huskies to a 36 percent night including 6-25 (24 percent) from three-point range.
It didn’t start out that way for St. Bonaventure, though. The first half was, for the most part, tightly contested. That was partially due to Jaylen Adams being sidelined with two early fouls. He only played five minutes in the half and scored one point.
Mobley more than picked up any slack. The Huskies held a two-point lead midway through the first, and it was a tie game at 26-26 when Mobley sparked an 11-2 run. LaDarien Griffincapped that surge with two free throws at the 3:53 mark. Mobley scored 19 of his points in the first half to propel St. Bonaventure to a 44-35 lead at the break.
It did not take long for the Bonnies to seize control early in the second half. St. Bonaventure scored 18 of the first 21 points in the frame to open a 62-38 lead by the 13:31 mark. Adams capped the surge with a three-pointer.
From there, the Bonnies’ lead never dipped below 16 points.
Mobley was 6-15 from the field including 4-9 from beyond the arc, and he also went 7-7 at the free throw line. Adams scored 14 points in the second half to finish his night with 15. Griffin scored 12 points and snagged eight rebounds, while Josh Ayeni chipped in 10 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of work. Idris Taqqee played another solid all-around game with 10 points, five rebounds and four steals.
Stats of the Game
St. Bonaventure’s defense sparked the win, limiting the Huskies to 24 percent (6-25) shooting from three-point range and 36 percent overall, well below their season averages. The Bonnies also scored 25 points off 18 Northeastern turnovers.
Quotes From Coach Mark Schmidt
“We did a good job tonight. I thought our guys did a good job of keeping the ball in front of them and contesting shots. When you can hold a team to 36% from the field and score 25 points off of turnovers, it’s going to be a good night.”
“Northeastern is a very good team. They got some easy buckets early, we made an adjustment and I thought that helped us. It wasn’t pretty, but we did what we needed to do. Jay got into foul trouble early and Matt really stepped up. Idris played his best game of the season tonight as well.”
Beyond The Boxscore
– St. Bonaventure’s last six-game winning streak was in the 1999-00 season from Dec. 30, 1999 to Jan. 15, 2000.
– The Bonnies’ 9-2 start is the program’s best since that same 1999-00 campaign, when coach Jim Baron’s club opened 12-2.
– The Bonnies’ 84 points against Northeastern was their second-best scoring game this season.
– Defensively, the Bonnies have now held eight of their 11 opponents under 68 points.
– St. Bonaventure is now 6-0 this year when leading at halftime.
– At the free throw line, the Bonnies are now converting 75 percent for the season. They went 25-28 against Northeastern.
Up Next: St. Bonaventure plays one of its most anticipated games of the season this Friday, Dec. 22, when it travels to Syracuse to face the Orange in the Carrier Dome. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
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