OLEAN, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure used a 14-4 run midway through the second half and junior Chris Johnson came off the bench to score 19 points as the host Bonnies downed Canisius College 81-62 Saturday night in the Reilly Center. The win improves St. Bonaventure to 4-4 on the year while the Golden Griffins fell to 1-7 with the loss.

Johnson was one of four Bonnies to post double figures in the scoring column with his 19 points after he went 5-for-9 from the floor, 2-for-4 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. Sophomore Matthew Wright added 16 points to the winning effort, while senior center Andrew Nicholson recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Da'Quan Cook chipped in 10 points, five boards and two steals for St. Bonaventure, which has now taken four straight from the Blue and Gold in the Reilly Center.

Canisius junior Harold Washngton led the Griffs with his 19 points while pulling down five rebounds. Fellow junior Alshwan Hymes posted 17 points and matched a career-high with three steals and sophomore Reggie Groves scored 11 points to go with six boards and four assists for Canisius.

St. Bonaventure took a 49-34 lead with 13:46 left in the game after guard Eric Mosley drained a 3-pointer from the left corner. From there, the Griffs battled back into the game and cut the Bonnies' cushion to 10 at 51-41 with a 7-2 scoring run over a span of 42 seconds, highlighted by a four-point play by Groves on a made 3-point field goal with a free-throw that followed and a trey by Hymes from the left wing. But that was as close as the Blue and Gold would get down the stretch, as St. Bonaventure out scored Canisius on a 14-4 clip in a span of 3:32 that drove the score to 65-45, with the run being capped by a slam dunk by Wright with 8:10 left in the contest.

"I thought the guys really battled and stayed true to our game plan," Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. "We keyed on Andrew [Nicholson] and we held him to 10 points, so I thought we did a decent job on him. We wanted to defend inside-out, and I think they hurt us a bit when they started making shots. But there were some good things out there tonight, we had 13 offensive rebounds and we were able to score 17 second-chance points there. When you're in a situation with a couple of losses strung together, a team has one or two ways to go. They could have mailed this in, but I see something totally different from this team."

The early part of the game went back and forth, and Canisius knotted the game at 12-12 thanks to a pair of made free-throws by freshman forward Josiah Heath. St. Bonaventure was able to get some separation from the Griffs with a 9-2 run over 1:31 after Wright and Mosley hit 3-point field goals and Nicholson converted on a traditional three-point play with a bucket and a charity toss to make the score 21-14 with 8:51 left before the halftime break. Canisius trimmed St. Bonaventure's hold to two points at 23-21, with Washington scoring five points in 2:48, but the host squad answered the bell by outscoring Canisius by a 13-4 count to close out the first stanza. St. Bonaventure shot 42.9 percent from the field in the first half against Canisius' 34.6 percent effort from the floor in the opening 20 minutes to take a 36-25 lead into the break.

For the game, the Bonnies shot 46.3 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from 3-point land and 79.3 percent (23-for-29) from the foul line, while holding a 40-29 advantage on the boards. Canisius shot 37.5 percent for the game and shot 38.5 percent from behind the arc and 88.2 percent from the charity stripe.

Canisius will take a week off for final exams before heading back on the road Friday, Dec. 16, when the team takes on UMKC. Tipoff is set for 8:05 p.m.

Game Notes: This was the 160th all-time meeting between these two long-time rivals, with St. Bonaventure holding a 97-63 advantage in the series... Canisius has played more games against St. Bonaventure than any other non-conference opponent... This marked the Griffs' 36th trip into the Reilly Center... As a team, Canisius is averaging 12.3 offensive rebounds per game in its last four contests... Washington and Hymes have scored in double figures in all eight games this season... Groves matched his career-high with six rebounds, the second-straight game he's been credited with six boards for Canisius... Groves' four assists marks the fifth time this season and the seventh time in his career he's led the team in assists for a game... Freshman Tyler Funk came off the bench and scored four points to go with four rebounds in 16 minutes... Funk, who is from nearby Clarence, N.Y., missed the team's first seven games with an injury.