St. Bonaventure retained the Franciscan Cup with a 75-66 win over Siena on Wednesday at the Reilly Center. Photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure Athletics

ST. BONAVENTURE — Buddy Simmons II scored a season-best 24 points while shooting 9 of 13 from the field as the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team defeated Siena 75-66 on Wednesday night at the Reilly Center.

With the win, the Bonnies kept the Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup for the third straight year.

Senior Cayden Charles surpassed 1,000 career points in the first half while tallying 15 points and a season-best nine rebounds. Frank Mitchell recorded his second straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The big man added two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Despite shooting 8 for 11 from the field to start the game, St. Bonaventure (3-0) struggled to build significant momentum over Siena (2-1) early on. Thanks to 11 points from Simmons, the Bonnies led 19-18 eight minutes into the first half.

The Saints answered with an 11-4 run over the next 5:37 of the first half, holding St. Bonaventure to just 2 for 8 from the field to take a 29-23 lead.

The Bonnies held Siena without a field goal for the final 4:54 of the half. After Simmons and Charles quickly tied up the game with six unanswered points, SBU made three of its last five shots from the floor — including a Joe Grahovac dunk with 5.1 seconds remaining — to take a 36-33 lead into the locker room.

After Siena tied the game at 40 at the 16:05 mark in the second half, St. Bonaventure took off on a 10-2 run backed by five points from Simmons. The spurt gave the Bonnies a 50-42 advantage with 12:42 to play.

The Saints made one more push for the lead, narrowing the margin to three points multiple times over the next few minutes.

With 7:38 to play and SBU in the lead 58-55, SBU went on another 10-2 behind seven points from Mitchell to put the game out of reach. The Bonnies held Siena to just 1 for 7 shooting from the field down the stretch to close out the 75-66 win.

St. Bonaventure will host Youngstown State on Saturday at the Reilly Center. The game will be televised on the YES Network and streamed live on ESPN+. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.

NOTES: Amar’e Marshall had a team-best five assists to go along with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. … Dasonte Bowen scored a season-best 8 points, all of which came in the first half. He tacked on two assists and two steals. … St. Bonaventure posted a season-high eight blocks as a team, its most since Nov. 28, 2024, against Utah State. … Grahovac had a team- and career-best four blocks. Through three games, the sophomore is averaging 3.0 blocks per game. … Mitchell is averaging a double-double on the season with 15.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. … Charles is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game.