BROOKLYN, N.Y. - St. Bonaventure led wire to wire and fought off several La Salle comebacks to advance to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a 82-72 victory over the Explorers on Thursday at the Barclays Center. Junior Jerrell Wright had a career-high 26 points on 11-for-13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Blue and Gold.

"Both teams played extremely hard," head coach Dr. John Giannini said. "St. Bonaventure was the better team because of the plays they were able to make offensively. They made really hard shots."

Senior Tyreek Duren scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and added four assists while playing all 40 minutes in his final game as an Explorer. Junior Steve Zack added 11 points and 11 rebouds, his A-10 leading 14th double-double of the season, while Sam Mills added 10.

"I had a lot of confidence that our team could make a good run in the A-10 tournament," Duren said. "It's definitley emotional knowing that it's over."

The Explorers shot the ball well, shooting 54.2% from the field, their second highest of the season, and committed just 10 turnovers but could not stop the Bonnies at critical times. 

"We were fighting back the whole game," Duren said. 

La Salle's best opportunity came after a 6-0 run midway through the second half brought the deficit to just one at 53-52 with 12:26 on a Duren lay-up. The Bonnies scored on three of the next four possessions to regain a six-point lead.

The Explorers got the deficit to three twice in the final four minutes but St. Bonaventure was able to score at the other end to quell any hope at a La Salle comeback. 

Wright had his best game as an Explorer, missing only two shots from the field and making all four foul shots. He scored in a variety of ways in the post and had several powerful slams.

His effort in the paint was matched by SBU's Youssou Ndoye who had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Marquise Simmons added 15, while Charlon Cloof had 14 and six assists.

The game marks the final in the outstanding careers of Duren, Mills, Tyrone Garland and Taylor Dunn, the winningest senior class in the past 22 years.

La Salle concludes with a 15-16 record. St. Bonaventure (17-14) moves on to play Saint Louis on Friday at noon in the quarterfinals.