UMass men’s basketball: Minutemen can’t finish off late rally in 73-72 loss to St. Bonaventure

UMass head coach Frank Martin calls a play against Davidson at the Mullins Center on Feb. 12 in Amherst.

UMass head coach Frank Martin calls a play against Davidson at the Mullins Center on Feb. 12 in Amherst.

Staff Report

Published: 03-05-2025 9:30 PM

It came down to the wire at the Reilly Center on Wednesday. 

The UMass men’s basketball team trailed St. Bonaventure 73-69 after Lajae Jones got to the rim for two with 2 minutes, 27 seconds to play. 

That turned out to be St. Bonaventure’s final basket of the game. Daniel Hankins-Sanford hit a jumper with 1:38 to play and then got the line and made one with 1:09 to go to cut the lead to 73-72, but the Minutemen offense sputtered from there. 

UMass was called for a shot clock violation with 50 seconds to play and after Hankins-Sanford blocked a shot on the other end, he eventually had his potential go-ahead shot blocked with seven seconds to go, forcing the Minutemen to play the foul game. 

Jones went to the line and missed the front end of the one-and-one. UMass’ Rahsool Diggins got off a good look at the buzzer but the shot did not fall, as St. Bonaventure escaped with a 73-72 Atlantic 10 victory. 

It was a close game throughout, one that featured 13 lead changes. The Bonnies (20-10, 8-9 Atlantic 10) built a 23-13 lead in the first half — the largest lead either team had the entire game — but the Minutemen (12-18, 7-10 A-10) chipped away, with Jaylen Curry getting to the rim in the final second of the half to give UMass a 39-38 lead at the half. 

Both teams traded baskets throughout the second half, with Diggins putting the Minutemen ahead 55-51 with 14:13 to go with a 3-pointer before the Bonnies stormed back to take a 69-62 lead with 7:55 to go following a Jonah Hinton trey. 

The UMass defense locked in from there and Diggins nailed a 3 with 4:19 to go that cut the deficit to 71-69. 

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Hankins-Sanford led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Diggins tossed in 18 points, Jaylen Curry scored 16 points while Shahid Muhammad added six points in the loss for the Minutemen. 

Jones led St. Bonaventure with 15 points while Melvin Council Jr. and Noel Brown each added 14 points in the win.

UMass will host its final Atlantic 10 regular season game on Saturday, taking on Loyola Chicago at 12:30 p.m. at the Mullins Center.