St. Bonaventure Starters: G Kyle Lofton, G Jalen Poyser, G/F Courtney Stockard, F Tshiefu Ngalakulondi, C Amadi Ikpeze
Updated Records: St. Bonaventure 4-8; Northeastern 5-6
Three Keys To The Game:
- A big run midway through the second half propelled Northeastern to the victory.
- St. Bonaventure came back to tie the game, but only scored four points over the final 3:33 as Northeastern pulled away.
- Senior Courtney Stockard led the Bonnies with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists.
BOSTON, Mass. – Playing its second straight road game against a team predicted to win its conference, St. Bonaventure came up just short on Friday afternoon, falling 64-59 at Northeastern at Matthews Arena.
St. Bonaventure played the Huskies nearly even the whole game, but the difference was a 17-3 run that put Northeastern in front 47-38 with 9:56 remaining. Prior to that, the Bonnies had started the second half well and took a 35-30 lead by the 15:08 mark on a jumper by Courtney Stockard.
The lead still belonged to the Bonnies at 37-36 when Northeastern senior point guard Vasa Pusica sparked his team, scoring a three-point play and then assisting two more scores. Pusica capped a 9-0 run with a layup that gave Northeastern its largest lead of the game at 47-38.
The Bonnies fought back, and Osun Osunniyi's dunk and free throw cut the deficit to 53-52 with 4:45 remaining.
After a Northeastern score, Kyle Lofton tied the game with a three-pointer at the 3:33 mark. However, the Bonnies went cold from there and the Huskies scored eight unanswered points to grab control at 63-55. Northeastern wound up 12-17 (70 percent) from the field in the second half.
The first half was tightly contested with strong defense by both clubs. The Bonnies went 6-22 from the field but trailed only 27-25 at halftime thanks to going 4-8 from three-point range and 9-10 at the free throw line.
The Bonnies' third straight loss drops them to 4-8 on the season. Northeastern, which was picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association, improved to 6-6.
Jalen Poyser (12 points) and Kyle Lofton (11) joined Stockard in double figure scoring. Osunniyi finished with four points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
Game Notes
- Senior LaDarien Griffin returned to the Bona lineup and had three points, one rebound and two steals in 26 minutes. Griffin had not played since suffering a knee injury in the season-opener against Bucknell.
- Pusica, a preseason All-CAA choice, was not expected to play due to a hand injury which had sidelined him for the past three weeks, but he played 31 minutes and scored 16 points with seven assists.
Up Next: St. Bonaventure returns to action on Dec. 29 when it travels to Syracuse to face the Orange in the Carrier Dome at 2:00.
- By Steve Mest, Associate Director of Athletics
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