Quick Report: St. Bonaventure 83, Saint Joseph's 73

Jaylen Adams (above) had six 3-pointers as part of his game-high 26 points as St. Bonaventure stunned St. Joe's at home. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
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Saint Joseph’s quest for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament took a hit on Wednesday night, as the Hawks couldn’t stop a hot-shooting St. Bonaventure squad in an 83-73 loss.

At First…
After the Hawks began the game scoring seven of the first nine points, the Bonnies fired back with a 12-0 run to double up their opponent over the opening five minutes. St. Joe’s recovered to retake the lead at 21-19 midway through the period, and it was a tie game six minutes out of halftime when the hosts went cold. Bonaventure closed the first half on a 12-5 run as St. Joe’s missed its final six shots of the half to go into the locker rooms down 42-35.

Turning Point…
St. Bonaventure continued to play front-runner over the first dozen minutes of the second half, though Saint Joseph’s got as close as two points on several occasions. It was a 61-57 game with 9:23 remaining after a foul shot by Hawks junior DeAndre’ Bembry, but that was the last time St. Joe’s would be within reach. After Idris Taqqee made it a seven-point game, Bonnie sophomore Jaylen Adams knocked down three 3-pointers of his own to push the lead to 10, 12 and then 13 points with 5:31 on his last, a wide-open triple from the right corner.

Standout Stars…
Adams is one of the brightest young stars in the conference, and he showed why with a brilliant 31-point, seven-assist, one-turnover performance that was a new career high-water mark for scoring. The 6-foot-1 guard was 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, including one meaningless miss at the end of the game.

St. Joe's was paced by a 22-point, seven-assist, six-rebound game from Bembry, who only needed to take 11 shots to break the 20-point barrier for the sixth time all season. Senior forward Isaiah Miles and freshman point guard Lamarr Kimble added 11 each for the Hawks.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
13: St. Bonaventure set a new season high for triples in a game, making double-digit shots from beyond the arc for the eighth time this season, on a similarly season-high 34 attempts (38.2 percent). The Bonnies hadn’t been reluctant to attempt treys this season, taking at least 15 in every game so far, but they were clearly trying to pull the trigger as much as possible against the Hawks, with 21 of their 36 first-half attempts coming from 3-point range.

8: The Hawks have done a great job of taking care of the ball, averaging fewer than 11 turnovers per game so far this season, and that continued with only eight giveaways against the Bonnies, including just two in the first half. While the Hawks' coaches certainly won't complain about single-digit turnovers, Bonaventure was even better, with just two giveaways the entire game.

Up Next…
Saint Joseph’s (18-4, 7-2) @ Fordham (Feb. 6, 2 PM)
Saint Bonaventure (14-6, 6-3) vs. Saint Louis (Feb. 7, 2 PM)