ROCHESTER — It was not that St. Bonaventure was lacking for opportunities to knock off St. John’s on Tuesday night.

It was just that too often the Bonnies were unable to capitalize.

Michael Davenport’s three-pointer from a couple feet beyond the arc clanked off the back iron at the buzzer, allowing the Red Storm to escape with a 69-68 victory before 4,181 in Blue Cross Arena. The Bonnies, who rallied from seven points down with 3 minutes remaining, fell just shy of becoming the first team to deal a Big East member a loss this young season.

Point guard Malik Boothe drilled two free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining — rattling in the first before swishing the second to give St. John’s a one-point lead. He was at the line after dribbling the length of the floor following a baseline inbounds pass with 11.1 seconds to go.

Click here for analysis of Boothe's drive to the basket and more from Tuesday's game on the Campus Watch blog.

"I’m just disappointed that we couldn’t finish the game," Bona coach Mark Schmidt said. "We didn’t do everything we needed to do. ... It comes down to them making a play and us not being able to keep Boothe in front of us."



Bonnies sophomore Andrew Nicholson, whose brilliant 26-point night in the post included 11-of-15 shooting, had previously drained a pair of free throws to give Bona a 68-67 lead. Then the sea seemingly parted for Boothe until he was fouled by Chris Matthews to prevent a layup.

"We played tough, but we could have played tougher," Nicholson said. "It was down to one possession and, yeah, that’s about it."



Other missed chances for the Bonnies included junior guard Malcolm Eleby missing one of two free throws after an intentional foul by Justin Burrell of St. John’s with 16.4 seconds remaining and Bona down by two. Nicholson hit his two free throws on the ensuing sequence — the Bonnies retained possession — making the lead one point.

Bona came up with two steals on back-to-back Red Storm possessions with just inside of three minutes left, but they only resulted in a missed three by Matthews and a blown layup in transition by senior guard Jonathan Hall, who finished with 12 points and a game-high six rebounds.

The Bonnies hit only 1 of 8 from three as compared to 8-of-17 shooting by St. John’s. But Nicholson’s strong play inside, also including a baby hook to cut the Bona deficit to 67-65 with 50 seconds left, allowed the Bonnies to nearly overcome their lack of long-range shooting.

"Against [Nicholson], you have to play him before he catches it," Red Storm coach Norm Roberts said. "You have to front him or get around him or make him catch it off the block further and we didn’t do a very good job of that. But he’s a terrific player [who] made big plays."



Bona fell to 1-1, unable to follow its impressive 72-62 victory over defending Horizon League tourney champion Cleveland State on Friday with another one. St. John’s improved to 2-0 and the Big East collectively stands at 29-0. (The Big 12 is the only other unbeaten conference at 23-0.)



"I’m proud of our team and how we competed. That’s a Big East team that people have been raving about and we were right there toe to toe," Schmidt said. "But as I told our players in the locker room, not many people have second-place trophies on their mantle.

"At least I don’t; I crack them in half. Losing isn’t acceptable."