BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Niagara Purple Eagles fell to the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, 74-59, in the Big 4 Classic Doubleheader, presented by The Buffalo News, on Saturday at the First Niagara Center.

Niagara (1-3) made a season-high seven 3-pointers and outscored St. Bonaventure, 15-8, in bench points. However, the Bonnies (4-1) had a significant advantage in points in the paint (40-20) and scored 24 points off of 20 Purple Eagles turnovers.

"I thought we played very well in the beginning of the first half (but) they closed the half on a run," said head coach Chris Casey.  "I do think our guys continued to compete very hard (and) obviously we can't have 20 turnovers. I do think we did a few good things. We rebounded with them, we guarded the 3-point line well and shot the ball decently from 3's. Those are some positives and we will try to get  better."
 
Ramone Snowden shared team-high honors with 13 points and seven rebounds, and led the team with three assists. Karonn Davis had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists. Rayvon Harris added 10 points and six rebounds, while Dominique Reid had career-highs with seven points and seven rebounds.

A pair of first half runs pushed St. Bonaventure ahead. After a baseline jumper by Reid gave NU an 11-6 lead at the 13:17 mark, the Bonnies went on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 17-11 lead.  The second run happened towards the end of the half.  A layup by Harris would cut the lead to 26-23 with three minutes left, but Bona answered with a 9-2 run to end the half as it went into halftime up 35-25.

Niagara only managed to trim the deficit to single digits once in the second half as the Bonnies, who led as much as 23 points, pulled away for their fourth straight win in the series.

The Purple Eagles are back on the road on Tuesday, Dec. 2 when they renew their rivalry with St. John's at 7 p.m. The game will air live on Fox Sports 1, AM 1400 WWWS and online via the Niagara Sports Network.