St. Bonaventure fan Dominic Grecco also known as ‘Captain Beer’ cheers during the Bonnies’ game against Boise State at the Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C. on Thursday. AP photo

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Reilly Center sits more than 830 miles away from the site of St. Bonaventure’s Thursday afternoon game against Boise State, TD Arena on the campus of the College of Charleston, but the home of the C of C Cougars sounded much more like the home of the Bonnies as they came away with a 67-61 victory in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

Again showing the ability to travel extremely well, Bona’s faithful were rewarded by seeing a victory from their squad in front of a national TV audience in one of the more prestigious early season tournaments of the year.

“People are realizing nationally what the Bonaventure alumni base is,” St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “There may be bigger fan bases, but there is no fan base more proud, more passionate than Bonaventure fans. People always ask about the Reilly Center and I always say you can’t put it into words, you have to see it. Just like tonight, you can’t put it into words, you have to see it. Bonaventure basketball is so important to our community and it shows. This felt like the Reilly Center in Charleston.”

The win advances St. Bonaventure to the winner’s bracket and a semifinal date with Clemson this afternoon at either 2 p.m. or 2:30 p.m. given the outcome of the early game. The semifinals will air live on ESPN2.

“We played a good game, not perfect,” Schmidt said. “We struggled offensively at times, but we overcame that. The defense was critical. We have a veteran team. The guys have been through it before and they didn’t panic.”

Boise led by one possession at the half and stretched its small edge to five during the first two minutes following the break.

Jalen Adaway answered by cutting the Boise momentum via a jumper to start a 6-0 sprint as Bona grabbed the lead back.

The teams proceeded to trade 3-pointers as a Dominick Welch three-ball put the Bonnies in front, 41-40, with 15:45 to play.

From there, the second half was an entertaining struggle of back-and-forth between the defending Atlantic 10 champs and their Mountain West foes.

The game was tied, 59-59, with 5:10 remaining when a lay-in from Welch off a feed from Adaway on the fast break pushed the Bonnies ahead once more.

Bona’s vaunted defense was in full lockdown mode by that point.

The Bonnies held Boise scoreless over the final 3:07 while doing enough offensively to slowly put the game out of reach. The lead stood at just 63-61 when the Broncos made what ultimately became their final tally, a dunk from Maden Armus, before Adaway put home a layup on the next drive, off a feed from Osunniyi.

Welch drew a foul and got to the line after another Bonnies stop, making both shots for a six-point lead with 2:13 to play. That score would stand the rest of the way.

“Defense has to be a staple,” Schmidt said. “I say it all the time, offense is fickle. I thought our guys played extremely hard and they took care of the ball. We kept them out of transition and held them to just two fast-break points and that’s when Boise is at their best.”

Kyle Lofton led the way for the No. 22/24 Bonnies with 17 points, adding seven assists. Three of his teammates were in double figures as well: Holmes delivered a double-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds; Welch finished with 12 points and seven boards and Adaway finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

St. Bonaventure (3-0) started hot, opening by connecting on seven of its first 11 field goal attempts. Conversely, the Broncos went 1-for-10 to open the game as the Bonnies started the game on an 18-6 run.

The Broncos chipped away at their deficit throughout the final five minutes of the first half, taking their first lead on a trey from Emmanuel Akot, 29-28, with just a minute remaining in the period. A four-minute dry spell from the floor for the Bonnies allowed the Broncos to take a 33-30 edge to intermission.

Akot was outstanding, posting a game-high 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from long range for the Broncos (1-2).

NOTES: St. Bonaventure employed its usual starting lineup of Kyle Lofton, Dominick Welch, Jaren Holmes, Osun Osunniyi and Jalen Adaway. Osunniyi posted the first four points of the game. … The Bonnies won the battle of the boards, 36-34. Both teams were steady with the ball, each committing only eight turnovers. … St. Bonaventure shot 45 percent for the game (24-for-53) while Boise finished at a 33 percent clip (19-58). Boise stayed in the game by drilling nine 3-pointers. … The teams exchanged the lead 12 times and shared five ties. … Holmes delivered the fourth double-double of his Bonaventure career. … Osunniyi registered 7 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. … Linton Brown delivered his first 3-pointer in a Bonnies uniform and finished with 5 points in over nine minutes of reserve action. … Announced attendance was 3,639, much of it seemingly wearing Brown and White. … The Bonnies moved to 1-1 against the Broncos, avenging a loss during the 2018 Cayman Classic.

No. 22 St. Bonaventure 67, Boise St. 61

ST. BONAVENTURE (3-0)

Osunniyi 3-7 1-2 7, Adaway 5-6 0-0 10, Holmes 3-9 7-8 14, Lofton 6-14 5-6 17, Welch 4-12 2-2 12, Brown 2-4 0-0 5, Adams 0-0 0-0 0, Coulibaly 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-53 15-18 67.

BOISE ST. (1-2)

Armus 1-7 5-6 7, Kigab 2-10 3-4 7, Akot 8-16 2-2 24, Doutrive 2-6 2-2 7, Shaver 3-11 2-2 10, Degenhart 2-3 0-0 4, Rice 0-3 0-0 0, N.Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Milner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 14-16 61.

Halftime–Boise St. 33-30. 3-Point Goals–St. Bonaventure 4-17 (Welch 2-9, Brown 1-2, Holmes 1-3, Lofton 0-3), Boise St. 9-26 (Akot 6-9, Shaver 2-6, Doutrive 1-2, Degenhart 0-1, N.Smith 0-1, Rice 0-2, Kigab 0-5). Rebounds–St. Bonaventure 33 (Holmes 10), Boise St. 28 (Armus 10). Assists–St. Bonaventure 15 (Lofton 7), Boise St. 12 (Kigab, Akot 3). Total Fouls–St. Bonaventure 14, Boise St. 17.