National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Florida St. 66, St. Bonaventure 63
When: 2:45 PM ET, Friday, March 16, 2012
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials: # Sean Casady, # Mike Scyphers, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance: 11751

Florida State 66, St. Bonaventure 63: Bernard James had 19 points and nine rebounds and Okaro White hit a huge 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down as the Seminoles survived a scare from the Bonnies in the Round of 64.

Third-seeded Florida State (25-9) advances to face sixth-seeded Cincinnati on Sunday. The Seminoles overcame a nine-point second-half deficit and an 0-for-7 performance from leading scorer Michael Snaer. They also withstood a tremendous effort from St. Bonaventure forward Andrew Nicholson, a future NBA first-round pick, who had 20 points and seven rebounds.

The Bonnies (20-12), making their first NCAA tournament appearance in 12 years, fought back after the Seminoles went on a late 12-0 run, but couldn’t pull off the upset. St. Bonaventure had a shot to tie in the waning seconds. Da’Quan Cook seemed to lose track of the game situation and settled for a pair of short jumpers instead of a potential tying 3-pointer.

Florida State trailed 34-28 at the half, and took its first lead of the game with just over five minutes to play. White’s 3-pointer gave the Seminoles a 63-57 lead with 1:03 remaining, but Demitrius Conger hit a pair of 3-pointers in less than a minute to cut the deficit to 65-63 with 25 seconds left.

After Deividas Dulkys missed the front end of a 1-and-1, White tapped the rebound back out to Luke Loucks. The senior point guard then split a pair of free throws, setting up the wild finish.

Game Notebook: Nicholson scored 10 of the Bonnies’ first 12 points, but had to sit after picking up his second foul with just over 12 minutes left in the half. He returned about four minutes later. … The Bonnies missed eight straight shots at one point in the second half.
Top Game Performances
 
St. Bonaventure   Florida St.
Andrew Nicholson 20 Scoring Bernard James 19
Charlon Kloof 7 Assists Luke Loucks 6
Demitrius Conger 9 Rebounds Bernard James 9
Demitrius Conger 6 Free Throws Made Luke Loucks 5
Demitrius Conger 3 Steals Luke Loucks 3
Andrew Nicholson 2 Blocks Bernard James 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
St. Bonaventure 63 40.4 7-14 10-13 16 34 3 9 13
Florida St. 66 45.3 7-19 11-14 13 29 9 9 11