St. Bonaventure beats South Dakota 68-46 in opener

Nov 9, 2013, 09:48 pm

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. -- Charlon Kloof led four teammates in double figures with 16 points, and St. Bonaventure defeated South Dakota 68-46 on Saturday night.

The Coyotes, trailing 31-21, opened the second half with a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 35-30. But the Bonnies responded with a 22-9 run to lead 57-39.

St. Bonaventure lost three double-figures scorers from last season, debuting a taller roster Saturday night. It showed, as the Bonnies outscored the Coyotes 38-14 in the paint and had a 43-28 edge in rebounds.

The Coyotes found little relief from the 3-point arc, hitting just 4 of 18 for 22.2 percent and shooting only 33.3 percent overall. The Bonnies also didn't shoot well from 3-point distance but were better overall at 42.1 percent.

Marquise Simmons and Dion Wright scored 12 points for the Bonnies. Jordan Gathers added 11.

Brandon Bos scored 14 points and Trevor Gruis 13 for South Dakota.