By: Isaiah Blakely
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies (4-5) defeated the Siena Saints(3-6) 82-40 in the Reilly Center Wednesday night.
The Bonnies scoring was paced by senior guard Nelson Kaputo who had 21 points including five three pointers.
It was a back and forth start between these two teams early, but then the Bonnies quickly took a comfortable lead after going on a 10-0 run putting them up 18-6 six minutes into the game.
In the first half freshman guard Jimmy Ratliff hit Siena’s first three pointer but Kaputo comes right back down and hits a three pointer of his own. Kaputo’s three pointer sparked a 22-3 run by the Bonnies to end the half up 42-16.
Senior Courtney Stockard made his first start of the season tonight, he scored 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Stockard’s and-one layup put the Bonnies up 50-20 with 15 minutes left in the second half.
The Saints in the second half had an 8-0 run of their own after full court pressing the Bonnies and forcing several turnovers.
Kaputo again was the spark with back to back three pointers which started a 14-2 run to get the lead up to 34. This run included junior guard Jalen Poyser scoring five of his 13 points.
Freshman Osun Osunniyi was last Bonnie to score in double figures with a couple dunks late. Osunniyi ended with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Siena shot poorly all night, but their leading scorer Ratliff had 16 points including four three pointers. The Saints started the game 0-8 from beyond the arc and 0-6 from the foul line. The Saints are typically one of the best teams in the country at not committing turnovers, but the Bonnies forced them into 15 tonight including eight in the first half.
Head coach Mark Schmidt said, “I thought this was the most complete game we’ve played to this point. We played really well tonight, especially on defense.”
The Bonnies have won three straight and six of the last nine Franciscan Cup games against Siena. A 42-point victory is tied for the largest margin of victory over Siena in these teams 41 combined meetings. This 41-point victory is also the largest margin of victory since last November when the Bonnies beat Maryland-Eastern Shore by 48.
Now the Bonnies put their three game win streak on the line Saturday in the Reilly Center against #17 rank University at Buffalo at 4 pm.
Picture Courtesy: GoBonnies
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