Jaren Holmes had 19 points and 13 rebounds and No. 22 St. Bonaventure turned in a dominant defensive performance Sunday as it cruised past Marquette 70-54 in the championship game of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.
The Bonnies (5-0) began the second half with a 14-2 run to open a 20-point lead and held Marquette (5-1) without a basket for the first eight-plus minutes of the second half until Justin Lewis made a short jumper to cut the deficit to 49-29 with 11:49 to go.
Osun Osunniyi had 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, Jalen Adaway scored 14 points and Kyle Lofton added 12 for St. Bonaventure.
Lewis had 17 points and 11 rebounds for Marquette. It was his third double-double of the season. The Golden Eagles shot 30.4 percent overall and 6-for-27 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range.
The Bonnies led 33-25 at halftime after limiting the Golden Eagles to three points in the final six minutes of the half. St. Bonaventure didn’t give Marquette any chance to get back into the game by opening the second half with a 14-2 run.
Adaway scored six points and Holmes added four during that run, which gave the Bonnies a 47-27 lead. Marquette didn’t get closer than 16 after that.
St. Bonaventure took a 23-17 lead on Holmes’ fast-break layup with 8:08 left in the first half, but Marquette scored the next five points before going ice-cold from the field. The Golden Eagles missed eight consecutive shots from the floor and went 5:33 without a basket until Lewis made a bank shot with 54 seconds left before intermission to trim the deficit to 33-25.
–Field Level Media
