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Florida State edges St. Bonaventure

Mar 17, 2012 - 2:37 AM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Bernard James totaled 19 points with nine rebounds, and Florida State used a late charge to subdue St. Bonaventure, 66-63, in second-round action in the NCAA Tournament.

Luke Loucks had 13 points with seven boards and dished out six assists for the Seminoles (25-9), the ACC champions and third-seed who advance to face sixth-seeded Cincinnati in Sunday's third round.

"I thought St. Bonaventure was very well prepared," admitted FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton. "They did a tremendous job fending us in the first half. They defended us a lot better than we defended them. We had some missed assignments that they created for with their execution."

Andrew Nicholson drained 4-of-6 threes en route to a game-best 20 points for the Bonnies (20-12), the 14-seed despite winning the Atlantic 10.

Demitrius Conger contributed 14 points and nine rebounds in a losing cause.

"I guess making history at Bonaventure, we won the Atlantic 10 tournament," Nicholson said when asked what he'll take away from this season that ended with the school's first NCAA berth since 2000. "Made an appearance here. It's a great environment to be here. It's just part of the game. You win some, you lose some."

FSU's first lead of the entire contest came with just over five minutes left, on a three from Ian Miller which made it 55-52. Loucks followed with a triple and Okaro White's dunk capped a 12-0 run and left the Seminoles up 62-50 with 2:46 to play.

The Bonnies hung tough, though. Nicholson then hit two from beyond the arc, the last one an answer to a White triple, to pull the Bonnies within 63-60 with 40 ticks on the clock.

After two from the line by Loucks pushed the margin back to five, it was Conger's turn to hit from the left corner for a 65-63 score.

On the next possession, Deividas Dulkys missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 25.2 remaining, but got a favorable tip from White and Loucks, who grabbed the ball near midcourt, went to the line. He made the first then missed the second for a 66-63 score.

Da'Quan Cook missed two shots and had another blocked on St. Bonaventure's final possession.

"I think physically and mentally our team was just really spent," said Loucks. "And, again, like coach said, you know, that was one of the toughest games we've played all season, and that's all the credit to their team."

The Bonnies jumped out to a 7-0 edge and the lead reached 22-14 near the midway point of the first half after a dunk from Xavier Gibson.

A Miller triple pulled FSU within 22-20, but the upstarts from upstate New York kept the Seminoles at arm's length, leading 34-28 at the break.

A James dunk early in the second half got Florida State within two, but the Bonnies' lead went back up to six. It was six again, at 48-42 on a Charlon Kloof jumper with 10:44 remaining, before the Seminoles began their comeback in earnest.

Game Notes

This was the first-ever meeting between the schools...Florida State improved to 15-13 in tourney action, while St. Bonaventure fell to 6-8...The Bonnies finished 7-of-14 from beyond the arc to fuel a 40.4-percent shooting performance, while the Seminoles made 7-of-19 from long range and shot 45.3 percent...James led all players with three blocks...Loucks and James both committed a game high four turnovers...St. Bonaventure claimed a 37-31 edge on the boards in defeat.