PHOTO: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY NATHAN SOLOMON, SPORTS EDITOR
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Jalen Adaway scored 22 points and Jaren Holmes added 20 as the St. Bonaventure Bonnies returned home from a three-game road trip to defeat the Saint Joseph’s Hawks, 80-69.
“Our effort was consistent,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “We were more connected defensively and we made it harder for them to score.”
St. Bonaventure (12-5, 4-2 A-10) fell behind 12-8 early to Saint Joseph’s (9-11, 3-5) but led by as many as 10 in the first half. But, with just over five minutes left, the Hawks went on a 10-2 run to cut their deficit to two before a Holmes layup as time expired.
“I was just trying to get downhill [and] see the ball go through the rim a couple of times,” said Holmes, who was 7-of-8 from the field. “I’m just trying to take good shots, get in the offense and really attack.”
The Hawks briefly tied the game at 35 just two minutes into the second half, but a 20-7 run for the Bonnies pushed St. Bonaventure ahead by 13.
St. Bonaventure took a 16-point lead after an Osun Osunniyi dunk with 5:22 remaining, but Saint Joseph’s cut the lead down to seven with 1:37 left. The Bonnies made 11-of-12 free throws in the final minute and a half to win by 11 points.
Adaway’s 22 points surpassed 1,000 on his career spanning between St. Bonaventure and Miami (OH). He made 7-of-11 field goals and 8-of-11 free throws on Saturday.
“It means a lot,” said an emotional Adaway. “I’m really thankful to accomplish that. I have amazing teammates, amazing coaches around me and I just couldn’t be more thankful.”
Dominick Welch added 11 points, including two 3-pointers for the Bonnies. He’s made six of his last 16 from range after entering Wednesday’s contest against George Mason at just 31% on the season, a career-low. Kyle Lofton also added 13 points.
Defensively, St. Bonaventure held Saint Joesph’s two leading scorers, Taylor Funk and Jordan Hall, to just 10 points and eight points, respectively.
“They had some open looks and they missed some shots, but they are two very talented players,” Schmidt said. “I thought our guys did a really good job of making it hard for them.”
As a team, the Bonnies shot 52% from the field and 29% from deep, albeit just seven shots from behind the 3-point line. They made 24-of-29 free throws and held the Hawks to just 41% shooting.
St. Bonaventure won the rebound battle 33-30 but allowed nine offensive rebounds to their five.
Next up, Saint Joesph’s returns home to host Fordham next Saturday.
For St. Bonaventure, they’ll conclude their two-game homestand Tuesday against No. 25 Davidson, whose 15-game winning streak ended at the hands of VCU last Wednesday.
“[Davidson] is a good team,” Schmidt said. “In order to win championships, you’ve got to take care of your home court. We know Davidson is good. We’re going to prepare just like we did today and hopefully we can play well.
“It’s a big game because it’s the next game.”
The Bonnies host the Wildcats Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
solomonj20@bonaventure.edu
