Both players had career efforts, combining for 62 points — Holmes with an eye-popping 38 points and Adaway with 24.

“Jaren works all the time and does everything right. He deserves moments like this,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “Every kid who works as hard as he does, you want to see him have success. I know his teammates are proud of him. The commitment he has and the time he puts in, it shows.”

The rest of their stat lines were just as impressive: Holmes added 10 rebounds for a double-double, sinking 14 of his 22 shot attempts including eight of 12 3-point tries. Adaway, meanwhile, went an astounding 11 for 12 from the floor with seven rebounds and four assists.

“Jalen and Jaren played exceptionally well. We shared the ball, we had 27 assists and seven turnovers; any coach in America would be happy with that,” Schmidt added. “We hit all our marks. We have to get better, but it was a good victory for us.”

St. Bonaventure’s Jaren Holmes (5) and Kyle Lofton celebrate during Atlantic 10 action against St. Joseph’s on Wednesday afternoon at the Reilly Center. Photo courtesy of Scott Eddy | St. Bonaventure Athletics

St. Bonaventure rolled from the outset, looking every bit the part of a big favorite entering the day’s play. Bona doubled up the Hawks in the early going, 16-8, but would hit a bump in the road later in the half. A cold spell of six minutes from the Bonnies offense allowed the visitors to embark on a 16-1 run and grab the lead, 24-17.

Adaway snapped the Hawks run with a bucket at the 7:25 mark of the half, keying a surge back in front as the Bonnies took a 32-28 advantage to halftime behind a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor effort by the redshirt junior during the period.

The Adaway-Holmes combination posted 34 of Bona’s first 40 points and proved too much for the Hawks as both caught fire down the stretch.

Saint Joseph’s (0-8, 0-3) pulled within 36-35 three minutes into the second half, but a fast break layup from Adaway followed by a pull-up jumper in the lane by Holmes started a Bonaventure avalanche.

The Bonnies would launch a 16-2 break and never gave up control.

“In the second half we played a terrific game on both ends of the court. Saint Joseph’s does a great job in their offense. I thought one of the keys was Osun being able to guard a perimeter player. We put our 4-man on Funk and Osun did a terrific job keeping guys in front,” Schmidt said. “We did what we wanted to do, especially in the second half. We struggled attacking the zone early in the game, but we did a much better job in the second half.”

Taylor Funk and Cameron Brown each posted 13 points for the Hawks.

The usual suspects for St. Bonaventure — Kyle Lofton and Osun Osunniyi — played supporting roles Wednesday. Though Lofton was cold from the floor, finishing with a season-low 4 points, he handed out 11 assists with eight rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Osunniyi, meanwhile, had 7 points but was still dominant on the glass with 12 rebounds to go along with three blocks.

“Kyle didn’t have a basket, but that’s what’s so special about him; he doesn’t care about the scoring or the shots going down. He’s just a team guy and that’s what you want,” Schmidt said. “He knew who had the hot hand and that’s what you want in your point guard. He’s a true leader and that’s why he’s the type of player that he is.”

NOTES: Holmes’ 38 points are the most by a Bonnies player since Courtney Stockard delivered 36 points vs. Dayton on Jan. 19, 2019. No Bona player has scored more points in a single game since Jaylen Adams went for 40 twice in 2018 — 40 at Duquesne Feb. 3, 2018, and 44 vs. Saint Louis Feb. 7, 2018. … The eight 3-pointers from Holmes doubled his Division I best of four set last December vs. Hofstra and are the most by an SBU player since Matt Mobley delivered nine treys in the 2018 Atlantic 10 Tournament vs. Richmond. In fact, a Bonaventure player has only hit nine or more 3-pointers in a single game three times — Mobley twice and Adams set the program record of 10 in the 2018 Saint Louis game. … The 38 points from Holmes ranks tied for eighth all-time in Bonnies single-game scoring efforts inside the Reilly Center, tying the 38 points scored by Bob Lanier vs. Fairfield Feb. 8, 1969. Lanier also holds the record of 51 set Feb. 24, 1969 vs. Seton Hall. … Lofton’s 11 assists matched his career high and he had only two turnovers. It is the fourth time he has achieved 11 assists in a single game and the first time since a win over Niagara in December 2019. He surpassed SBU All-Time Team member J.R. Bremer (’02) for ninth in program history for career assists with 342. He finished the game with 994 career points, passing Matt Gantt, another All-Time Team member, for 45th all-time in career scoring. … The Bonnies handed out 27 assists on 32 made field goals and owned a 46-32 advantage on the glass. … Dominick Welch delivered 8 points, three assists and three steals. … Anthony Roberts added four assists off the bench. … Bona shot 7 of 9 from beyond the arc in the second half and 10 of 23 during the game. … Holmes’ previous career high of 21 points came last February at home vs. GW. Adaway had previously tallied 18 points twice during two seasons at Miami (Ohio) with the last coming in December 2018 vs. South Carolina State. … The Bonnies have won 12 of 13 against Saint Joseph’s.

UP NEXT: The Bonnies host George Washington Saturday afternoon on national TV. The game is slated for a noon tip off on NBC Sports Network.

SAINT JOSEPH’S (57)

Douglas 3-6 0-2 7, Funk 5-10 2-2 13, Tracey 0-2 0-0 0, Forrest 3-11 0-0 8, Hall 3-6 0-0 9, Brown 5-14 1-2 13, Bishop 2-6 0-1 5, Moore 0-2 0-0 0, Longpre 1-2 0-0 2, Jansson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 3-7 57.

ST. BONAVENTURE (83)

Osunniyi 3-10 1-2 7, Adaway 11-12 2-2 24, Holmes 14-22 2-5 38, Lofton 0-7 4-4 4, Welch 3-7 0-0 8, Roberts 1-5 0-0 2, Vasquez 0-5 0-0 0, Shaw 0-0 0-0 0, Okoli 0-0 0-0 0, Creal 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 9-13 83.

Halftime–St. Bonaventure 32-28. 3-Point Goals–Saint Joseph’s 10-34 (Hall 3-5, Brown 2-7, Forrest 2-9, Douglas 1-3, Bishop 1-4, Funk 1-4, Moore 0-1, Tracey 0-1), St. Bonaventure 10-23 (Holmes 8-12, Welch 2-4, Roberts 0-2, Vasquez 0-2, Lofton 0-3). Rebounds–Saint Joseph’s 31 (Hall 10), St. Bonaventure 45 (Osunniyi 12). Assists–Saint Joseph’s 14 (Hall 5), St. Bonaventure 27 (Lofton 11). Total Fouls–Saint Joseph’s 12, St. Bonaventure 11.