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Dec. 27, 2005

Final Stats

MIAMI, Fla. - St. Bonaventure will play for a championship on Wednesday.

Michael Lee and Paul Williams each scored 18 points and Ahmad Smith scored 16 to lead the Bonnies past Florida International, 69-65 in overtime, on Tuesday night in the first round of the FIU Holiday Classic at Pharmed Arena. St. Bonaventure will face Texas-San Antonio for the tournament title Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Tuesday's win also ended a streak of 30 consecutive road losses for the Bonnies dating to the 2002-03 season.

"This is progress for our program," said Bonnies coach Anthony Solomon. "We have a great chance to play for a championship."

The Bonnies overcame a 57-50 deficit with 4:06 remaining to force the overtime session. Lee's short jumper made it 59-57 with 1:53 to go, then Williams tipped a pass near center court and burst free for a breakaway dunk that tied the score at 59-59 with :44 remaining.

Patrick Lottin came up with a steal of Jayce Lewis' pass with 25 seconds left to give the Bonnies a chance to win in regulation. Smith drove the lane in the final seconds but his off-balance shot missed.

In overtime, Lee put the Bonnies ahead with a jumper, but FIU's Facundo Giorgi made it 62-61 with a three-pointer. Lee answered with layup with 3:31 left. Following an FIU miss, Lottin was fouled. He made both of his free throws to put St. Bonaventure up 66-62 with 2:56 left.

Elvis Lora cut the Golden Panthers' deficit to one with a layin at the 2:44 mark, then Ivan Almonte made the second of two free throws with 1:12 left to pull Florida International within 66-65. After a miss by Smith, Lora then missed a three-pointer at the other end, Smith grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 32 seconds to play. The senior coolly made both free throws to give the Bonnies a three-point cushion. Lora missed another free throw and Tyler Relph sealed the win with a free throw with eight seconds left.

"I'm really proud of our team ... that was a great effort down the stretch and the whole game," Solomon said. "We came up with key defensive stops and key rebounds when we needed them most."

The Bonnies started the game well, opening a 10-4 lead early. But FIU went on a 22-6 run to go ahead 26-16 with 4:20 until halftime. St. Bonaventure whittled the lead to 28-24 at intermission, but the Panthers went ahead by as many as nine points early in the second half.

Williams and Lee controlled the interior all night against the smaller Panthers, who played the 6-foot-6 Almonte at center most of the night. Williams recorded a career high 12 rebounds for his first double-double. He also had a pair of blocked shots and three steals. Lee, playing about an hour's drive south of his hometown of West Palm Beach, Fla., grabbed seven rebounds. He made nine of his 16 shots.

Smith added eight rebounds, four assists and two steals to go with his 16 points. He now has 999 career points.

Patrick Lottin finished with seven points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Relph chipped in six points and two assists in 27 minutes in his second game this season. Isiah Carson, who started the game in place of freshman A.J. Hawkins, had two points and four assists before leaving the game late in the first half with a groin strain.

St. Bonaventure, which snapped a two-game losing skid, is now 6-4.

Almonte, who is averaging 12 rebounds per game, had 17 points and 13 rebounds for Florida International (3-7), which lost its fifth straight. The Golden Panthers missed 11 of their 18 free throws in the game (six in the second half), plus committed 22 turnovers.

Texas-San Antonio pulled off a mild upset with its 88-76 win over Cal State Fullerton in Tuesday's first game. The Roadrunners from the Southland Conference are now 4-5.