By Joe Ceraulo, Sports Staff
The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team beat Siena tonight 75-55 for the second straight year to hold on to the Franciscan Cup, improving to 4-2 on the season.
The win was the Bonnies’ fifth in eight years of the trophy’s existence.
Junior forward LaDarien Griffin led the charge as the Bonnies ran away with this one early. He finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs.
After falling behind 14 at the half, Siena struggled to recover and never made it closer than an 11-point game. Sophomore guard Ashante Shivers had 19 points and seven rebounds, both team highs for the Saints.
Their leading scorer, junior guard Nico Clareth, was locked down with just nine points on 2-10 shooting from the field.
Senior guard Matt Mobley recovered nicely from his performances in Florida, logging 40 minutes tonight with 22 points and eight rebounds. His fellow tri-captain Idris Taqqee had a season-high 13 points to go along with six boards.
St. Bonaventure won the turnover battle yet again, forcing 13 by the Saints while only squandering possession eight times themselves.
The Bonnies also shot an impressive 46.4 percent from the field in the win, but only hit 17 of 30 from the charity stripe as free-throw shooting continued to trouble the team.
St. Bonaventure’s next game is Saturday Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. at the University at Buffalo.
cerauljg16@bonaventure.edu
