ALBANY — Beyond the first minutes of Tuesday’s Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup battle at MVP Arena, there was little doubt which team would be in possession of the Cup for the next year.

St. Bonaventure pounced on Siena at the outset and never relinquished control on the way to a dominating 65-48 victory.

The Bona defense was again the story, stifling Siena throughout.

Siena mustered just a 32 percent success rate from the floor and went 6-for-26 from beyond the arc.

On the offensive end, Chance Moore powered the attack with 23 points along with 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year and second in as many games.

Melvin Council Jr. recorded 14 points and a career-high seven steals.

The Bonnies overpowered the Saints inside, owning a 42-24 margin in the paint.

Siena (5-6) scored on the very first possession of the game, a triple from Brendan Coyle.

That 3-pointer did anything but set a tone for the host Saints, though, as it was all Bonnies from that point.

Bona’s defense, which entered the day ranked 17th nationally in points allowed, held Siena off the board for the next nine-plus minutes with an 11-0 run that eventually extended to 22-2 as the visitors built a 20-point lead.

In the first nine minutes alone, the Bonnies created five steals and forced seven Saints turnovers.

Moore registered 13 points by halftime as Bona’s ran to intermission with a 34-17 cushion.

After halftime, it was much the same.

Siena went scoreless for the opening 4:30 of the second half as the Bonnies continued to roll out their lead to a 40-17 margin.

From there, it was academic.

Noel Brown chipped in 10 points while Lajae Jones had seven points, five rebounds.

Freshman Xander Wedlow contributed a career-best seven points, making all three of his field goal attempts.

For Siena, no players cracked into double figures as leading scorer Major Freeman finished with nine points as did Devin Brafford.

GAME NOTES

St. Bonaventure moved to 34-12 all-time vs. its Franciscan sister school including 9-5 in Franciscan Cup games.

The Bonnies avoided any of the previous issues the program has experienced in Siena’s MVP Arena. The Saints had won four of the past five games there in the series. Tuesday is Bona’s first win at MVP Arena since 2018.

SBU has 11 wins in its first 12 games for just the eighth time in program history and first since the 1969-70 Final Four campaign when the team opened 12-0.

Moore tallied his second 20-point game of the year and first since Nov. 9 when he posted 27 at Canisius.

The Bonnies defense held an opponent under 60 points for the seventh time this year.

Council is the first Bonnies player to have five or more steals in a game since Moses Flowers had five last year vs. Loyola Chicago.

UP NEXT

St. Bonaventure wraps up the non-conference schedule by returning home to host Niagara on Saturday. Tip time at the Reilly Center is set for 1 p.m.