Kyle Lofton had 17 points and seven assists as No. 22 St. Bonaventure recorded a 67-61 win over Boise State on Thursday in the first round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic tournament in Charleston, S.C.
The Bonnies (3-0), who have trailed at halftime in each of their games this season, will play Clemson in a semifinal on Friday. Boise State (1-2) will face Temple in the consolation round.
Jaren Holmes collected 14 points and 10 rebounds and Dominick Welch added 12 points for the Bonnies.
Emmanuel Akot went 6-for-9 from 3-point range and led the Broncos with 24 points.
There were five ties and 12 lead changes in the game.
Jalen Adaway, who scored 10 points, rebounded an Akot miss and fed Welch for a fast-break layup to put the Bonnies ahead to stay, 61-59, with 4:51 to go. Lofton’s short pullup jumper padded the lead.
After a dunk by Boise’s Mladen Armus, Adaway banked in an alley-oop pass from Osun Osunniyi to restore the lead to four. A pair of free throws by Welch with 2:14 remaining gave the Bonnies a 67-61 lead and completed the scoring.
The Bonnies led 51-47 after Lofton’s driving layup, but Boise State used a 6-0 run on two free throws by Marcus Shaver Jr. But Holmes answered with two foul shots to tie the score at 53 with 7:58 left. The Broncos responded with a 3-pointer from Akot to retake the lead.
St. Bonaventure’s defense was suffocating early in the game. It took Boise State more than five minutes to record its first field goal, when Akot made a 3-pointer. Fortunately for the Broncos, their defense had been pretty good, too, so they were only down 8-4 at that point.
But the Bonnies responded with a quick 6-0 run, capped by a nifty backdoor cut by Lofton, who scored on an assist from Adaway. That put the Bonnies ahead 14-4 with 13:06 left in the half.
The Broncos eventually rallied and took the lead. Tyson Degenhart’s tip-in at the buzzer sent the underdog Broncos into the intermission with a 33-30 advantage.
–Field Level Media
