Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure’s bid for a marquee non-conference win went awry late in the second half following a 13-2 run from Iona to erase a Bonnies lead and allow the Gaels to finish with a 72-57 decision Sunday afternoon at Barclays Center in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational.
Chad Venning posted the second double-double of his Bonaventure career, returning to his hometown of Brooklyn with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Daryl Banks III also added 14 points to lead the Bonnies on the offensive end.
Iona (6-2) opened the game by scoring the contest’s first five points, and took a 9-4 advantage at the first media timeout as the Gaels’ press presented trouble for the Bonnies.
A three-point play by Kyrell Luc and a step-back trey from Moses Flowers on the following possession brought Bona back within 15-14 with 10 minutes and change left before halftime.
The next seven minutes were back and forth, with the Bonnies finally grabbing their first lead of the day following a Max Amadasun dunk at the 5:10 mark.
An 8-2 run from Iona gave the Gaels a 32-28 advantage at intermission, however.
The Bonnies (6-4) quickly got within two at the open of the second period, but another surge from the Gaels left them down nine.
The pendulum swing nature of the game continued as six straight points from Venning, highlighted by an emphatic put-back dunk to bring the Bonnies fans in attendance to their loudest point of the day, tied the game with 9:50 to go.
A trey from Banks pushed the Bonnies in front, 54-53, two minutes later, but a quick turnover and back-to-back Gaels buckets gave Iona the lead right back. That ignited Iona’s sprint to seize control of the contest which to that point had been anyone’s game.
In the closing minutes, the Bonnies went ice cold, missing nine straight attempts from the field to end the game.
Bona outrebounded Iona, 37-34, but a season-high 21 turnovers led to 27 points of offense for the Gaels.
Nelly Joseph paced all scorers with 24 points, along with 10 boards, for Iona. Walter Clayton Jr. tacked on 16 points.
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