FINAL: St. Bonaventure 64, Siena 58

PHOTOGRAPHER: Mike MacAdam

ALBANY — Freshman points guard Evan Hymes had another productive scoring night, with 18 points, but St. Bonaventure neutralized him in the second half and held off Siena, 64-58, in a non-conference game at the Times Union Center tonight.

Hymes had 14 points in the first half, then made just one of nine shots in the second. Eric Mosley scored 17 points for the Bonnies (2-1), Demitrius Conger scored 15 and All-America candidate Andrew Nicholson had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“They played great defense in the second half,” said Hymes, who scored 30 against Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday. “I felt like I rushed a couple shots.”

“As the game progressed, we got used to his quickness,” SBU head coach Mark Schmidt said.

Siena (2-1) trailed the entire second half, but was always within a few baskets of the Bonnies. Hymes fouled out with 1:10 left, and the free throws by Mosley gave SBU a 57-52 lead.

Two free throws by Kyle Downey (10 points) with 27 seconds left brought Siena within 61-58, then the Bonnies made three of four in the closing moments.

Senior forward Owen Wignot did not play for the second game in a row after banging the back of his head in the first half against Navy last week. He’s not expected to make the trip for Wednesday’s Georgia Tech game, leaving Siena with two scholarship players on the bench. He was evaluated today and was found not to have sustained a concussion, but he said he’s still groggy. He’ll get an MRI this week.