OLEAN, N.Y. -- Zarryon Fereti and Michael Lee combined for 58 points to lead host St. Bonaventure (1-1) past Binghamton (0-1) 97-80 in the Bearcats' season opener Monday night from the Reilly Center. Fereti pumped in a game-high 32 points and Lee added 26 points and 11 rebounds in the high-scoring affair.
Bookend runs to end the first half and begin the second were decisive as the Bonnies spoiled the coaching debut of Kevin Broadus. After a tight first half, St. Bonaventure closed out with a 10-1 run to take a 41-33 lead at the break. Fereti scored 16 of his points in the half. Then with the 6-foot-9 Lee taking charge, the Bonnies opened the second half with a 14-3 run to build a 55-36 lead with 16:29 left. A 7-0 BU run closed its gap to 11 points with 13:41 to play but the Bearcats could pull no closer and lost their season opener for the fifth straight year.
At one point, Lee scored nine straight Bonnies points, including a pair of jams. His teammates chipped in with marksmanship from the field (65%) and the charity stripe in the final period. For the game, St. Bonaventure shot 58% from the floor and made 33-of-38 free throws (87%).
"I thought we gave it our best shot but we just couldn't put it all together," Broadus said. "We played catch-up most of the night and didn't make our shots. You can't win when you are outrebounded by 13 and the other team goes to the free throw line 38 times. But we'll learn from this and get prepared for Wednesday."
In his Bearcats debut, junior forward
Milos Klimovic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) nailed 6-of-12 three-pointers en route to a team-high 23 points. Senior guard
Richard Forbes (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) netted 15 points and junior forward
Reggie Fuller (Missouri City, Texas) added 10 points and seven rebounds.
The first half was a see-saw affair with neither team holding a lead of more than five points until the Bonnies closed out the frame with their run. The Bearcats were whistled for 14 fouls on the road, and St. Bonaventure capitalized by converting 16-of-18 free throws in the first half. Klimovic nailed three three-pointers and Fuller chipped in eight points and six rebounds in the frame. The Bearcats struggled from behind the arc, misfiring on 16-of-21 attempts from three-point range.
Binghamton returns home to host Quinnipiac Wednesday at the Events Center.
