Nov. 27, 2009
Final Stats
Tournament Central
NORMAL, Ill. - Chris Matthews scored eight of his season-high 14 points during a 15-0 St. Bonaventure run to open Friday night's Basketball Travelers Classic contest against Southeast Missouri State, and helped the Bonnies cruise to a 67-44 win over Redhawks on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
Matthews finished the game 5-of-7 overall and connected on four three-point attempts. Andrew Nicholson led the Bonnies (3-1) and all scorers with 15 points. He also turned in a game-high 12 rebounds. Jonathan Hall joined the duo in double figures for St. Bonaventure.
The Bonnies scored 15 consecutive points to open the game and held the Redhawks (1-4) scoreless for 9:42 before Anthony Allison converted a lay-up for SEMO. Matthews hit his first three shot attempts during the run, including two three pointers, and tied Nicholson for the first half lead with 11 points. Nicholson added 10 first half rebounds to record a double-double in 20 minutes and St. Bonaventure rolled to a 32-14 lead at the break. St. Bonaventure shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) in the first half, while the Redhawks were limited to 20 percent on 5-of-25 shooting.
Southeast Missouri State pulled within 15 points on a made three pointer from Kajuan Watson three and a half minutes into the second half but the Bonnies answered with a 9-0 run and never looked back. St. Bonaventure doubled the lead to 30 points with six minutes left and closed with a 23-point edge. The Bonnies outshot the Redhawks 54.5-to-32.1 percent for the game and held a 37-27 advantage on the boards. St. Bonaventure turned 20 Redhawk turnovers into 25 points.
Watson led the Redhawks with a career-best 12 points. Eric McCrary hit both of his two three-point attempts to add eight points for Southeast Missouri State. Lamont Russell led SEMO with six rebounds.
Competition at the Basketball Travelers Classic at Redbird Arena continues Saturday with the Illinois State playing Southeast Missouri State at 6:05 p.m., and the Norfolk State matching-up with St. Bonaventure at 8 p.m. The Redbirds will play St. Bonaventure on Sunday at 3:35 p.m.
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