ST. BONAVENTURE — The Hofstra men’s basketball team were handedly defeated 73-45 by the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies on Saturday, Dec. 7 at the Reilly Center in St. Bonaventure.

Desure Buie was the only member of the Pride who scored in double figures, finishing the contest with 17 points on 7-14 shooting. Isaac Kante pulled down eight rebounds, the most on the Pride, and Omar Silverio was Hofstra’s most efficient player offensively, putting up five points on 2-3 shooting while going 1-2 from the three-point line.

For the Bonnies, Dominick Welch and Jaren English poured on the points to the tune of 17 each. The pair wore down the Pride from behind the arc, combining to put home nine threes on 15 long-range shots. Bobby Planutis finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Kyle Lofton balanced a poor shooting night with 11 assists in the game. Osun Osunniyi led all players in rebounds with 16.

Hofstra jumped out to a 11-4 lead just five minutes into the game, as Buie, Kante, Jalen Ray and Eli Pemberton all put up points early. After a Kante free throw with 13:33 remaining in the first half, however, the Pride stalled offensively, allowing a 20-0 run from the Bonnies over the following five minutes. The Pride trailed by double-digits for the remainder of the contest.

A Buie jumper 15 seconds into the second half were the last points for the Pride before another impressive run from St. Bonaventure in which it extended its 40-28 lead to 55-29, outscoring Hofstra 15-1 over seven minutes. The Bonnies’ largest lead was 31, which they held with 8:43 left in the game.

The Pride went just 6-31 from the field in the second half, a poor 19%. They could not find the net on any tries from beyond the arc either, going 0-9 in the final 20 minutes after they finished the first half 3-10 from that distance. 

Pemberton and Ray in particular both struggled to score, going 3-11 and 1-10 on field goals, respectively, marking Pemberton’s second-worst field goal percentage this season at 27%. Kante was just 1-3 in 22 minutes and Tareq Coburn finished 1-6, with all of his shots but one being taken from deep. 

A bright spot for the Pride was their ability to take advantage of turnovers on the other end of the floor. Buie, Pemberton and Ray all tallied two steals and another from Stafford Trueheart brought the team to seven for the game. The Bonnies finished with 18 turnovers, compared to 14 from Hofstra, and the Pride earned 22 points following their opponents’ mistakes.  

Hofstra’s record sits at 6-4 following the loss. The team looks next to extend its series streak in “The Long Island Rivalry” to four consecutive wins when they host the Seawolves of Stony Brook University on Tuesday, Dec. 10 in Hempstead.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics