Le Moyne men’s basketball falls to St. Bonaventure

St. Bonaventure, N.Y. – Noel Brown led five players in double digits with 15 points as St. Bonaventure University registered a 71-52 victory over the Le Moyne College men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
Fifth-year guard Darrick Jones Jr. (Richmond, Va./Oak Hill Academy/Towson) was the only Dolphin to score in double figures with 11 points, nine of which came in the second half on a trio of three-pointers.
Brown finished the contest 6-of-8 from the field and recorded five rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Lajae Jones and Melvin Council Jr. each posted 12 points, while Jones had eight rebounds and Council Jr. had seven rebounds and three assists. Dasonte Bowen registered 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. Jonah Hinton came off the bench to score 10 points.
St. Bonaventure scored the first four points of the game and 15 of the opening 19 over the initial 4:18. Brown and Bowen each had five points in the span for the Bonnies.
After the teams traded points over the next seven and one-half minutes, during which time the lead for the Bonnies bounced between eight and 16 points and was at 13 after a three-pointer from sophomore guard AJ Dancler (Indianapolis, Ind./Southport), St. Bonaventure used an 11-2 run over 5:16 to take a 41-19 lead with 2:20 to go. Council Jr. led the run with five points, while Jones had four and Bowen had two.
Le Moyne scored four of the last seven points of the half to pull within 44-23 at halftime. Redshirt sophomore forward Nate Fouts (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles/Kimball Union Academy) made a shot in the paint and then graduate student guard Will Amica (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee/UAlbany) converted a lay-up as time expired.
After the teams split the first 12 points of the second half, the Dolphins scored five points in a row to cut its deficit to 16. Junior forward Freds Pauls Bagatskis (Riga, Latvia/Complejo Educativo Mas Camarena/Georgia Tech/UT Arlington) hit a baseline jumper and then Fouts had a conventional three-point play.
Following a pair of three-pointers from Jones to answer three-pointers from St. Bonaventure, the Bonnies scored six straight points. Council Jr, who scored 21 points in each game for Wagner last year against the Dolphins, hit two free throws, Jones made a lay-up and then Brown made a lay-up with 7:26 left.
The Dolphins answered with a three-pointer from junior guard Trent Mosquera (Brookline, Mass./Belmont Hill School) and a fastbreak lay-up from redshirt junior forward Dwayne Koroma (Berlin, Germany/Bishop Walsh (Md.)/Iona/Salt Lake C.C./UT Arlington) to get within 17 with 5:20 play.
The teams then traded 7-0 runs, during which the Bonnies took their largest lead of the game. Council Jr. drained a three-pointer, Chance Moore had a fastbreak dunk and then Noel had a put-back lay-up. Fouts answered with two free throws, freshman guard Jakob Blakley (Elgin, Ill./Walter Payton Preparatory) drilled a three-pointer and then classmate Isaac Nyakundi (Duluth, Minn./Duluth East/The MacDuffie School (Mass.)) made a lay-up.
Brown had a tip-in with 1:08 for the final points of the game.
Le Moyne (1-4), which drops to 0-15 all-time against St. Bonaventure, is back on the hardwood on Friday against UT Martin at 6:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. CT at the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi MTE at the Dugan Wellness Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.