CSUN Drops Season Opener at St. Bonaventure

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y.---CSUN Men's Basketball could not overcome a tough shooting night and 21 turnovers in a 70-56 loss at St. Bonaventure on Monday at Reilly Center. Keonte Jones led the way with 16 points to go with nine rebounds. Scotty Washington added nine points in his Matador debut.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a steal from Jones, Grady Lewis made CSUN's first shot to open the game. After leading 4-2 on a Festus Nduymanya basket, the Bonnies answered with a 7-0 run to take their first lead. CSUN committed eight turnovers over the first 10 minutes of action as St. Bonaventure created some breathing room with five consecutive points for a 14-6 lead. The Bonnies stretched their lead to double-digits following a four-point play from Lajae Jones with 8:50 on the clock. A Jones layup for CSUN cut the deficit to 21-12, but St. Bonaventure scored the next five to extend the lead to the biggest of the half at 26-12. CSUN trailed by double digits for the remainder of the first half with Judson Martindale closing the period with a three to make it a 31-20 game at the break.

CSUN forced St. Bonaventure to seven misses over its first nine attempts as the Matadors put together a 9-4 run. A Scotty Washington jumper would trim the deficit to 35-29 at the 15-minute mark, the closest CSUN had been since the early stages of the game. The Bonnies committed three more turnovers over the next two minutes, but CSUN could not pull any closer over that stretch. Moments later, the Bonnies picked up threes from Jones and Noah Bolanga to push the lead back to double digits. Chance Moore soon completed a traditional 3-point play to close an 8-0 run, putting the Matadors into a 47-31 hole. CSUN trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half but kept on battling down the stretch. An 8-3 run closed by a Martindale three inched CSUN closer to 62-48. Washington made it a 65-53 deficit on a jumper with 2:30 left to play, however, a comeback was not in the cards. The Bonnies made five free throws late to help seal an opening night win.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN drops to 0-1 on the season and St. Bonaventure improves to 1-0.
The Matadors outshot the Bonnies 37.0 percent compared to 36.4 percent with each side making 20 field goals. St. Bonaventure made 7-of-32 from three (21.9) but feasted at the free throw line, making 23-of-34 (67.6 percent) while CSUN hit 6-of-19 from three (31.6 percent) and made 10-of-16 free throws (62.5 percent).
The Bonnies out-rebounded the Matadors 40-35.
In points off turnovers, the Bonnies held a 21-13 edge as CSUN finished with 21 total turnovers.
Newcomer PJ Fuller II scored eight points with four rebounds and three assists while Lewis had eight points and five rebounds and Martindale had seven points off the bench in their respective CSUN debuts.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"I felt really good going into this game with how we defend and their lack of shooting, we were going to be a problem for them. As first games go, you never know how long it's going to take your guys to get the nerves out, and it took us a long time. This was our first game together and it showed. We turned the ball over way too much and played really timid."

UP NEXT
CSUN continues its New York road trip with a Wednesday night meeting with Le Moyne on Wednesday at 4 p.m. PT. The game will stream on NECFrontRow.com while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are on the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio in an audio only broadcast.

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CSUN Drops Season Opener at St. Bonaventure

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Team Stats

Keonte Jones

Scotty Washington

PJ Fuller II

Grady Lewis

Players Mentioned

PJ Fuller II

Keonte Jones

Grady Lewis

Judson Martindale

Scotty Washington

Players Mentioned

PJ Fuller II

Keonte Jones

Grady Lewis

Judson Martindale

Scotty Washington