Assa Essamvous (2) drains a 3-pointer for St. Bonaventure in Monday night’s season opener against Longwood. Photo courtesy of St. Bonaventure Athletics

ST. BONAVENTURE — The buzz surrounding the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team entering the 2023-24 season has been palpable for months.

A unique blend of returning and new talent has given Bonnies fans much to be excited about during the summer and fall as basketball season approached.

And, on Monday night in the season opener, it was the scoring prowess of one new face — Charles Pride — who gave the Bonnies a lift when needed and the clutch work of a familiar name — Kyrell Luc — on both ends of the floor late to seal a 73-69 victory over Longwood.

Monday’s win was anything but easy — Longwood, winners of 46 games combined over the past two seasons, shared 11 ties and swapped the lead eight times with the Bonnies.

“I started watching tape on these guys last week and I knew it was going to be a game,” head coach Mark Schmidt said of his opening night foe. “We came out a little shaky offensively, but our defense was decent. Our rebounding wasn’t very good and that’s something we have to fix if we are to have any chance this year. Longwood attacks. But it’s always good to win and then be able to correct some stuff. We made the stops when we needed to and it was a good victory against a very good team.”

Bona opened the game 0-for-9 from 3-point land and went scoreless for over five minutes during the first half as the Lancers led early.

The Bonnies used a 10-1 run late in the first half for a 35-30 halftime edge, but the Lancers refused to go away.

Foul trouble limited Chad Venning to just under 14 minutes of action, but the Bonnies appeared to finally have breathing room following back-to-back 3-pointers by Assa Essamvous for a nine-point edge, 55-46, with 10:46 to go.

Longwood continued to chip away, closing within a point four minutes later. The Lancers finally climbed all the way back, surging in front, 62-61, on a bucket in the paint from Szymon Zapala with 4:15 left.

Tied, 64-all, with 2:52 showing on the clock, Pride drained one of his three treys on the night for a 67-64 score.

Zapala converted on a second chance layup on the next trip down the floor, and one of two at the foul stripe by Johnathan Massie tied the game at 67 apiece with 1:51 remaining.

Luc, who to that point had not cracked into the scoring column, drove the lane on the next possession, rattling home the leading score with 91 seconds to play.

The squads exchanged scoreless trips down the floor, then it was a key defensive play by Luc that helped seal the victory.

The junior guard swiped the ball from Massie, then calmly sank both at the line after being fouled.

Bona’s defense forced a stop, and Daryl Banks III iced the game with two more at the line.

Pride helped Bona out of multiple offensive cold spells, posting a team-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor. He also added seven rebounds.

Noel Brown, a junior transfer, immediately made an impact as he absorbed many of Venning’s minutes as the preseason all-conference pick sat with foul trouble.

Brown went 3-for-3 from the floor, handed out three assists, and posted three rebounds and a block in key minutes in the front court.

From the start, Bona’s student section was raucous, and it was something that Brown knew to expect from his previous time in the Atlantic 10 at George Washington.

“For me personally, last year at GW we played here, and it was a crazy game and the biggest thing we noticed was the audience and today the crowd was absolutely insane,” Brown said. “I think having that behind you is just something different. When you’re on the court it gives you an extra oomph to dig in because you know you got support and all the people around you are supporting you as well. It’s just a great relationship and when you’re on the court you feel like you’re representing everyone. It makes you want to play so much harder.”

Massie led all scorers by draining 23 points for Longwood while Zapala registered a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds.

In the end, the Bonnies played nine players with each of the bench contributors logging 14 minutes or more. Bona’s much talked about added depth paid dividends from the opening tip of the new campaign.

“It’s never easy but we played nine guys 14 minutes or more and that’s how it’s going to be,” head coach Mark Schmidt said. “Some guys are going to play more than others the better they play. The better you play the more you play. This year we have a little bit more depth and hopefully, we can use that to our advantage.”

GAME NOTES

≤The Bonnies improved to 52-5 in home openers at the Reilly Center.

≤Pride collected his 78th career double-figure scoring effort. The first 77 came at Bryant where he played the past four seasons.

≤Essamvous finished with 12 points and five rebounds.

≤Longwood owned the glass, finishing with a 45-29 advantage in rebounding which resulted in a 23-8 advantage in second chance points.

≤Bona’s bench contributed 20 points, outscoring Longwood 20-2.

≤SBU went just 3-for-15 from 3-point land during the first half, but improved to 8-16 after halftime.

≤All nine Bonnies players who checked into the game scored four or more points.

UP NEXT

The Bonnies remain at home to host Canisius Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center. Tip off is slated for 4 p.m.