Kyrell Luc scored 16 points and hit a pair of key 3-pointers late in the second half for St. Bonaventure, which never trailed in beating Notre Dame 63-51 in the Gotham Classic showcase game Friday afternoon in Elmont, N.Y.
Chad Venning (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Yann Farell (11 points, 14 rebounds) each posted a double-double for St. Bonaventure (4-2), which has won three straight. It was the first career double-double for Venning, a junior, and the second of Farell’s freshman season.
Ven-Allen Lubin had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Notre Dame (5-1), which was trying to start 6-0 for the first time since 2017-18. Nate Laszewski had 11 points and eight rebounds while Dane Goodwin and Cormac Ryan finished with nine points apiece.
Notre Dame shot just 34.5 percent and opened especially cold from the field, shooting 2 for 13 with a pair of turnovers as St. Bonaventure raced out to a 14-4 lead following Luc’s 3-pointer with 11:42 left. Dane Goodwin responded with a 3-pointer for the Fighting Irish, but they got no closer the remainder of the half.
St. Bonaventure led 31-20 at intermission before Lubin scored six points in a half-opening 14-10 stretch for Notre Dame, which pulled within 41-34 with 12:14 remaining. Venning scored on the next three trips for the Bonnies before Daryl Banks III drained a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 49-36 with 9:02 left.
Laszewski and Trey Wertz combined to hit four straight free throws as Notre Dame cut the deficit to 51-44 with 5:08 remaining, but Luc hit a 3-pointer on the next possession. The Fighting Irish trailed 54-46 with four minutes left, but Wertz missed a layup and Luc sank another 3-pointer.
The Fighting Irish got within seven points once more in unusual fashion with 2:02 left. Lubin’s deflection of Farell’s in-bounds pass underneath the St. Bonaventure basket went into the hoop. Daryl Banks hit a 3-pointer following a timeout to extend the lead to 60-50 and the Bonnies led by at least nine the rest of the way.
The win was St. Bonaventure’s first against Notre Dame since Jan. 19, 1994 and cut the Fighting Irish’s lead in the all-time series to 5-3.
–Field Level Media