Brian Tedder/Collegian

For the first time since the start of its conference schedule, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team played a game where it soundly defeated an opponent and the outcome was not in doubt late in the second half.

UMass beat St. Bonaventure, 79-56, Sunday afternoon at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen have now won three-straight games and visit Richmond (14-11, 7-5 Atlantic 10) this weekend.

Though Sunday’s win was the team’s second-highest margin of victory this season, the contest was far from decided midway through the second period. UMass (18-9, 7-6 A-10) built a 19-point lead at the half but allowed SBU (7-19, 1-11 A-10) to get back into the game with a 14-3 run over the first six minutes. The Bonnies cut the UMass lead to six points over that stretch.

“St. Bonaventure came out in the second half and slowed us down with a good zone defense,” Ford said. “Watching tape, I thought the key to beating St. Bonaventure was to not allow them to make [3-pointers] because they rely on that quite a bit.”

The Bonnies hit a trio of 3-pointers over that stretch, including one from guard Zarryon Fererti, one of the Atlantic 10’s leading 3-point scorers.

The UMass defense adjusted to take the 3-point shot away from SBU, forcing the Bonnies to take the ball inside. Low-post scoring threat Michael Lee had limited success in the interior with 15 points.

Meanwhile, senior forward Gary Forbes was dominant on the glass with 16 rebounds. The captain also scored 18 points as a part of his double-double.

Ford acknowledged after the game that fatigue has become an issue for many of his players. Since the team received a strong production from its bench, the coach rested several key starters for extended periods. Players like Forbes and point guard Chris Lowe, who routinely sit for only a few minutes per game, logged 29 and 33 minutes, respectively.

“I thought the bench was the best it’s been all year long in terms of production. It gave us a huge boost,” Ford said.

Freshman forward Matt Glass led the UMass reserves with a career-high 14 points. He shot 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, with three coming in the second half. As the St. Bonaventure zone defense collapsed on UMass’s proven scorers, the Minutemen kicked the ball out to a wide-open Glass on the wing during several possessions.

Inconsistent play continued for sophomore shooting guard Ricky Harris. He drew the ire of Ford and sat on the bench for much of the first half. Yet Harris made several critical baskets in the second half to spur a UMass scoring streak.

“I took him out in the beginning of the second half because I didn’t feel he was where he needed to be on offense or defense,” Ford said. “We had a discussion after he came out of the game, and I think that woke him up a little bit. He made a couple huge baskets for us.”

Out of a UMass 30-second timeout, Harris penetrated toward the basket and scored two points to end SBU’s 14-3 run. The sophomore then converted 3-point attempts on consecutive possessions to allow the Minutemen to retake control of the game.

Though the first half began sluggishly on offense for both teams, the Minutemen executed a 15-2 run over five minutes to build a 13-point lead by the 10-minute mark.

“We wanted to come out and give ourselves confidence and hopefully take some confidence away from St. Bonaventure,” Ford said. “We wanted to jump on them as much as possible with pressure defense.”

Meanwhile, Forbes displayed an unyielding determination from beyond the arc that resulted in a 0-for-6 clip until the final two minutes of the first half. The senior then converted two 3-pointers, helping to give the Maroon and White a then game-high 19-point lead at the half.

Game notes

Senior center Dante Milligan logged 29 minutes and collected one foul. Milligan fouled out in 16 minutes of basketball against Rhode Island on Thursday and has fouled out 10 times this season