Jalen Adaway scored 17 points, Osun Osunniyi had 13 points and 10 rebounds and St. Bonaventure beat Colorado 76-68 in first round of the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday in Boulder, Colo.
Kyle Lofton contributed 15 points, Jaren Holmes had 13 points and Dominick Welch finished with 12 for the Bonnies (21-9), who will face top-seeded Oklahoma in the second round on Saturday or Sunday. St. Bonaventure overcame a 10-point, second-half deficit.
Keeshawn Barthelemy had 15 points, Evan Battey scored 14 and Tristan da Silva had 13 for the Buffaloes (21-12).
Colorado opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 46-36 lead. Lofton ended the run with a three-point play, sparking a 13-2 surge that put the Bonnies in front 49-48 with 14:49 remaining.
Jabari Walker gave Colorado the lead again when he scored in the lane, and after St. Bonaventure missed on two chances at the other end, da Silva’s layup made it 52-49. Adaway tied it with a 3-pointer, and Welch hit another from deep to put the Bonnies in front.
Barthelemy answered with his a 3-pointer and the teams traded baskets to keep it tied until Welch hit another 3-poiinter to make it 60-57 with 9:10 left. Osunniyi’s dunk made it a five-point game, but Barthelemy hit another 3-pointer.
Adaway connected on a jumper and a layup around Battey’s field goal to put the Bonnies ahead 66-62 with 4:50 left.
Battey was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to cut the margin to one. After a St. Bonaventure basket, da Silva tied it at 68 with a three-point play with 2:20 left.
Osunniyi’s layup with 1:58 to go put the Bonnies back in front. Colorado missed two shots on its next possession, and Lofton hit a jumper with 1:07 remaining to make it 72-68. Battey turned the ball over, and Holmes hit two free throws with 46.2 seconds left to make it a six-point game.
Osunniyi blocked Simpson’s layup attempt and then made two free throws to seal it.
The Bonnies started the game strong, jumping out to a 10-2 lead, but Colorado rallied to take a 39-36 advantage into halftime.
–Field Level Media