Melvin Council Jr. poured in a game-high 24 points and St. Bonaventure held off Providence for a 74-70 win on Saturday evening at the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase in Uncasville, Conn.
Council hit 10 of 19 shots from the field and was a pest defensively (three steals) for the Bonnies, who earned their fourth win in a row. Noel Brown chipped in 16 points and eight rebounds, while Lajae Jones supplied 15 points.
St. Bonaventure (10-1) scored 10 of the first 16 points of the second half, grabbing a 45-32 lead when Chance Moore split two free throws with 16:55 left.
Rich Barron responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite the Friars’ comeback bid, and Providence (7-5) later used a 10-2 spurt to get within 50-48 with 10:49 to go.
Brown converted a layup and Jonah Hinton canned a triple to keep the Bonnies in front. The Friars then trailed by at least four until Bensley Joseph scored in transition to make it 69-66 with 1:21 remaining.
Barron was off the mark on a trey that would have tied the game at 69 with 34 seconds left.
A pair of jumpers in a 15-second span from Oswin Erhunmwunse even had Providence within two at 72-70 with six seconds to play, but Brown sank two free throws to seal the victory.
Wesley Cardet paced the Friars with 13 points. Jayden Pierre added 12 and Corey Floyd Jr. went for 10 as Providence got outshot 41.7 percent to 35.7 percent from the field.
With the help of a pair of 9-0 runs, St. Bonaventure raced out to a 24-11 lead 12:50 into the game. Chance Moore and Jones combined for 11 of the Bonnies’ 18 points during the early outbursts.
Providence shaved its deficit to 28-20 on a Pierre jumper with 3:05 remaining in the first half, but St. Bonaventure managed to keep the Friars at arm’s length and led 35-26 at the break.
–Field Level Media
