WASHINGTON, D.C. – St. Bonaventure rallied from 13 points down to shock Duquesne and advance in the Atlantic 10 Tournament via a 64-59 victory Thursday morning at Capital One Arena.

At the heart of the second half rally was Bona's do-it-all senior captain Melvin Council Jr.

Council, who fittingly was bestowed with the Bonnies Player of the Game WWE legacy belt in postgame, sparked the comeback with a classic Council performance.

He did a bit of everything as the Bonnies erased Duquesne's cushion of a baker's dozen with 13 minutes and change to play.

Jumpers, layups, steals, assists, you name it and Council had a hand in it down the stretch.

He finished with 18 points on the day, though his performance extended beyond the box score as he served as a catalyst in the Bonnies turnaround.

Duquesne (13-19) opened the game on a 12-4 sprint, but the Bonnies responded with a 10-0 run of their own as the Dukes went scoreless for over five minutes.

From there, though, the majority of the rest of the half was in control of the Dukes.

Duquesne responded with the next six points over a two-minute span to pull back in front and did not trail the rest of the period.

Despite shooting just 27 percent from the floor in the opening half, Duquesne was able to pull ahead by a 34-25 margin at the break while shutting down Bona's offensive options in the post.

The Dukes appeared to be in complete control as the Bonnies stumbled out of the gates in the second half, starting the second stanza 1-for-10 from the floor.

While Council ignited the comeback, he was certainly facilitated by teammate Lajae Jones.

Jones drained a corner 3-pointer with three minutes to play, closing the Bonnies within two as part of a 13-1 run to end the game.

Council knotted up the score at 58-apiece with a floater in the lane and 2:19 to go.

A steal from Chance Moore gave the Bonnies the ball and Council drained two at the line for the team's first lead since mid-way through the first half.

Duquesne, the reigning A-10 champs, could not muster a field goal over the final 4:16 of game time as the Bona defense had the clamps locked in.

Bona's defense forced 18 turnovers and turned that into 24 points of offense.

Along with his 18 points, Jones also recorded eight rebounds and three steals.

After first half struggles, Noel Brown righted the ship in the second half and finished with nine points, eight boards and three assists.

Maximus Edwards poured in 18 points off the bench for the Dukes.

With the victory the Bonnies will play top-seeded VCU Friday in the quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. on USA Network.

St. Bonaventure now stands 22-10 on the season.

GAME NOTES

• The Bonnies move on to the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament for the 10^th time in the last 11 years.
• Duquesne led by 13 with 13:35 remaining in the game.
• St. Bonaventure improved to 17-12 in A-10 Tournament play under head coach Mark Schmidt. The Bonnies have won at least one tournament game in 10 of the 15 seasons they have qualified under Schmidt.
• SBU moves to 72-65 all-time against Duquesne and 5-3 in A-10 Tournament games, avenging last season's loss in the A-10 semifinals.
• Council posted an Atlantic 10-best 65 steals during the regular season, adding four to his total on Thursday.
• Duquesne won the battle of the boards, 40-30, and led for 36 minutes of game time before the Bonnies rallied.

 
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH MARK SCHMIDT
"Melvin [Council Jr.] willed us to win, and that's what your point guard needs to do. And I have said it from the very beginning, Melvin has it. He's competitive. He makes big shots, makes big plays. And the guy to the left, Lajae [ Jones] played extremely well and made some shots. And we just -- we found a way to win. It wasn't pretty, and as I told the guys in the locker room, it's life. Life is not gonna be easy. You've got to deal be adversity and you're going to bounce back. And we certainly did that today."

"It wasn't a pretty game. It was really competitive, physical, but our guys made the plays at the end. When you turn somebody over 18 times. I told one of the keys in the game, even before the game, was ball security. You have got to take care of the basketball. You can't give Duquesne numbers on the break. I thought we turned the ball over only seven times. They turned the ball over 18. That was 24-4 points off turnovers. That was the difference. They dominated us on the glass. And usually we win the paint and we're even in the paint. That's why it was critical for us to win that points off turnovers."

"I learned a long time ago, you only have to lead for a second. But it's hard. Mentally, you make a basket, they come down and they make a basket. And you try to cut into the lead, and so you need to show some mental toughness. I thought we did."

UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure and top-seeded VCU will play for the third time this year in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals on Friday at 11:30 a.m. The squads split the home-and-home series with each program defending home court during the regular season. The game will air nationally on USA Network.

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