|
Men's Basketball
Niagara outscores Bonnies, 101-88
Nov. 21, 2005 LEWISTON, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure simply could not stop Niagara. A near-flawless offensive display gave the Purple Eagles a 101-88 win over the Bonnies on Monday night at the Gallagher Center. St. Bonaventure dropped to 1-1 on the year. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 2,400 in Niagara's home opener, the teams shot the ball exceptionally well, but a big advantage at the free throw line and in the rebounding column (42-28) were keys for the Purple Eagles. After a breakneck first half, St. Bonaventure trailed 56-51. Sophomore forward Michael Lee scored the opening bucket of the second half to make it 56-53, but Niagara then scored 10 of the next 12 points to open a lead it would not relinquish. It was 66-55 after a Clif Brown three-pointer. St. Bonaventure could not come any closer than eight points the rest of the way. Poor free throw shooting and turnovers doomed the Bonnies' chances of a comeback. The Bonnies went just 8-20 at the free throw line (40 percent), including 4-11 in the second half. Niagara, by contrast, was nearly perfect from the free throw line, especially when it was clinging to its second half lead. Niagara went 19-20 from the line in the second half. Both teams ignored the shot clock all night as shots - and points - were easily had. It was the second year in a row that Niagara has scored over 100 points against St. Bonaventure. "Niagara played on a high level emotionally, but we had way too many defensive lapses. We could not get consecutive stops," said St. Bonaventure coach Anthony Solomon. "We opened up two (defensive) notebooks and none of it worked." Employing their usual brand of run-and-gun, carefree basketball, the Purple Eagles made 15 of their first 23 shots (65 percent) and threatened to run away, but the Bonnies hung close, trailing 34-30 after a three-pointer by Patrick Lottin with 8:08 remaining.
Three consecutive three-pointers helped the Purple Eagles pull further ahead at 48-42 with 3:30 left, and the lead grew to 10 points at 54-44 after two free throws by Brown with 1:36 left. The Bonnies got scores from Ahmad Smith and Lee in the final minute to pull back to 56-51 at intermission. Smith led the Bonnies with 23 points while Lee turned in one of his best games with 16 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Lottin finished with 15 points and A.J. Hawkins totaled 10. Isiah Carson came off the bench to score eight points and hand out five assists. "Offensively, we can put some points on the board," Solomon said. "I thought Mike Lee answered the bell and so did Isiah. We're not there yet, but we are growing and learning." Five Niagara players reached double figures in scoring led by Lorenzo Miles with 28 points, Brown with 22 and Charron Fisher with 21. The Bonnies return to action this Saturday, Nov. 26, when they host Canisius at 4:00 at the Reilly Center. |
|
