Mark Schmidt became the winningest coach in St. Bonaventure men’s basketball history Sunday with his 203rd victory. Photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure Athletics

ST. BONAVENTURE — The stars seemed to align for St. Bonaventure and coach Mark Schmidt on Sunday afternoon at Reilly Center.

Schmidt became the Bonnies’ all-time coaching wins leader as his team rolled past third-place George Mason, 79-56. Freshman Kyle Lofton dazzled with a career-high 32 points and seven assists. Senior Courtney Stockard finished with 17 points.

“It was a good defensive effort, and we played well enough offensively. We took care of the ball, and we shot the ball really well from 3,” Schmidt said. “We shot the ball really well and Kyle (Lofton) couldn’t have played better. Courtney got us off to a good start, but Kyle was terrific throughout the game.”

Schmidt, who is in his 12th season at St. Bonaventure, now has 203 wins in charge of the program. He passed Larry Weise, who guided St. Bonaventure to 202 wins over 12 seasons from 1961-73.

The Bonnies seemed fully intent on giving Schmidt the win right from the start. They had their hottest start of the season, holding the Patriots scoreless over the first four minutes and scoring 16 unanswered points by the first media timeout.

During that stretch, Lofton scored 11 points including a trio of 3-point field goals.

The Patriots’ first field goal came at the 15:45 mark, and they did close to within 18-11 after a Jason Douglas-Stanley 3-pointer at the 12:26 mark. But the Bonnies would continue their strong play on both ends of the court, holding the Patriots to just 9 of 25 from the field in the first half en route to a 42-25 lead at halftime.

“We got out 16-0 and we couldn’t have played better defensively. And we couldn’t have played better offensively,” Schmidt said. “Even though we didn’t play great the entire (first) half, I thought we defended really well. We out-rebounded them, we took care of the basketball.”

In the second half, Lofton combined with seniors LaDarien Griffin and Stockard. Back-to-back buckets from Stockard to open the half, paired with another bucket from Lofton gave the Bonnies their largest lead of the day at 48-25 at the 17:30 mark.

Mason used a 12-3 run to narrow the game to within 10 with 4:44 left. But a trey by freshman Dominick Welch, who finished the game with 10 points, followed by buckets from Stockard and Griffin and back-to-back 3s by Lofton left no doubt as to the game’s outcome.

The wire-to-wire victory was the Bonnies’ 11th overall and moved them to 7-5 in the Atlantic 10. It also snapped a three-game home losing skid.

“To beat (George Mason), you have to keep them out of the paint, you have to keep them off the foul line,” Schmidt said, “and I thought we did those two things.”

Lofton was 10 of 15 from the field including 7 of 8 from 3-point range and 5 of 5 at the line. He added three rebounds and two steals. Classmate Osun Osunniyi had 6 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.

For Schmidt’s perspective on breaking the coaching wins record, see additional coverage in the video sections of the St. Bonaventure Athletics website at GoBonnies.com and You Tube.

NOTES: With the win, St. Bonaventure moved within a half-game of fifth place in the Atlantic 10 standings behind Saint Louis and Duquesne, who are both 8-5. … The Bonnies’ 11 3-pointers are their second-highest total in a game this season and their 58 percent shooting from behind the arc is their best this year. … Lofton’s seven made 3-pointers are the best by a Bonnies player this season. … Lofton now has six games of 20 points or more and Osunniyi has six games with 10-plus rebounds. … Over the past two games, the Bonnies were 19 of 38 (.500) from 3-point range, turning around a shooting slump from the prior two weeks. … St. Bonaventure will host La Salle at the Reilly Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

GEORGE MASON (56)

Reuter 0-4 0-2 0, Kier 8-14 2-3 21, Greene 1-3 0-0 2, Miller 4-8 2-3 10, Livingston 3-6 2-2 10, Wilson 0-5 1-2 1, Douglas-Stanley 1-6 0-0 3, Hartwell 3-5 0-0 8, Boyd 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 20-52 8-14 56.

ST. BONAVENTURE (79)

Stockard 7-12 1-1 17, Griffin 4-7 0-2 8, Osunniyi 3-6 0-0 6, Lofton 10-15 5-5 32, Welch 4-7 0-0 10, Ikpeze 0-0 0-1 0, Okoli 0-0 0-0 0, Kaputo 2-4 0-0 4, Poyser 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 31-55 6-10 79.

Halftime–St. Bonaventure 42-25. 3-Point Goals–George Mason 8-25 (Kier 3-7, Hartwell 2-4, Livingston 2-5, Douglas-Stanley 1-5, Greene 0-2, Miller 0-2), St. Bonaventure 11-19 (Lofton 7-8, Stockard 2-3, Welch 2-4, Kaputo 0-2, Poyser 0-2). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–George Mason 25 (Reuter 7), St. Bonaventure 30 (Osunniyi 11). Assists–George Mason 8 (Livingston 3), St. Bonaventure 18 (Lofton 7). Total Fouls–George Mason 16, St. Bonaventure 13. Technicals–George Mason coach Dave Paulsen.