Sophomore Bones Hyland provided a team-high 16 points, but a dominant second-half performance by St. Bonaventure pushed the Bonnies past VCU, 70-56, Wednesday night.
The game was a tale of two halves. The Rams (10-4, 3-2 A-10) took a 15-point lead into the break, but shot 19 percent (5-of-26) in the second as the Bonnies (7-1, 5-1) outscored VCU 45-14.
VCU led 43-29 with 18:56 remaining, but watched as St. Bonaventure embarked on a 16-0 run, punctuated by back-to-back alley-oop dunks by Osun Ossunniyi.
The Rams never fully recovered. VCU junior Vince Williams tied it a short time later at 51-all, but VCU scored just one field goal in the final 11:15 as the Bonnies closed the game on a 19-3 run
Dominick Welch led all players with 19 points for St. Bonaventure.
VCU will return to the Stuart C. Siegel Center to face Dayton on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 4:30 p.m. The game will also be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.