ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Since mid-January, the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team has been starting its best possible lineup.

With Courtney Stockard in place at power forward, the Bonnies have a third double-digit scorer in the starting five, the ability to spread the floor and find open driving lanes and a better rebounder than either of its traditional big men.

Its best group, however, is also undeniably small.

Now that Josh Ayeni comes off the bench, Bona is the only team in the Atlantic 10 with no starters at 6-foot-7 or taller (both Stockard and LaDarien Griffin are listed at 6-foot-6). Recently, its inside presence, period, has been minimal, with Ayeni averaging just nine minutes in the last six games and Amadi Ikpeze logging only nine since conference play began.

And still, it’s fared well in the categories most closely associated with size, ranking third in conference play in rebounding margin (plus-4.1) and third in offensive rebounds (11.5 per game) while nearly equaling its opponents’ production in the paint.

How have the Bonnies maintained despite a noticeable lack of size? With toughness, primarily.

That toughness will be put to the test tonight when Bona puts its four-game win streak on the line against hard-nosed Saint Louis inside the Reilly Center.

“Just playing defense … and group rebounding as a whole,” said Griffin, now the Bonnies’ starting center, when asked how Bona has been able to overcome its hole in the interior. “You just make the adjustment, no matter what guys are out there. We all have the understanding that we have the same goal of winning.

“It’s just what Coach (Mark Schmidt) has decided to go with right now.”

Tonight’s game is a matchup of two of the hottest teams in the league.

The Bonnies (16-6, 6-4) have won four in a row, moving into a tie for third in the A-10 standings, one game behind second-place Davidson. They’re coming off a dramatic victory on Saturday against Duquesne, when Jaylen Adams scored a career-high 40 points and drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds remaining.

Saint Louis (13-11, 6-5), meanwhile, has won three-straight and five of the last six following a similarly slow start (1-4) in league play. Its only loss in that span is an overtime setback to VCU and four of those five wins have come by an average of 16 points.

For Bona, rebounding is always a high priority, but it’s at the top of the scouting report in this one. The Billikens lead the league in rebounding margin (plus-7.4) and offensive boards (13.1) and have four starters that average seven caroms or more.

The challenge: Limit a Saint Louis team that relies heavily on second chance points.

“It’s going to be a war,” Griffin said. “We’re playing against grown men. It’s just an emphasis that we’re going to group rebound and everybody has to be in.

“(You’ve) got to put on as much armor as possible. You gotta get out there and just fight. We (have) to hold it down on the glass if we want a good chance to win.”

A collection of holdovers, transfers and highly-regarded freshmen, the Billikens finally seem to be gelling in year two under coach Travis Ford.

Saint Louis, a chic pick in the preseason to finish in the top four of the A-10 due to that new wave of talent, is led offensively by one of each: Javon Bess, a Michigan State transfer, is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds while holdover Davell Robey, who had 16 against Bona last year in the RC, is averaging 11 points.

Jordan Goodwin, one of two ESPN Top 100 freshmen that Ford was able to lure to Saint Louis (alongside 6-foot-7 forward Hasahn French), is averaging 11 points and, at 6-foot-3, leads the league in offensive rebounds.

The Billikens rank near the bottom of the league in most offensive categories, but they’re much improved from the teams that have resided mostly in the A-10 basement in recent years.

“Robey is a veteran guy who settles them down,” Schmidt said. “They’ve got athleticism, they’ve got length. They’ve won three in a row, so we’ve got a hot team coming in here. They found their identity.”

The Bonnies have won six in a row over SLU beginning with their upset victory over the top-seeded Billikens in the 2014 A-10 Tournament. Schmidt’s teams have been mostly successful in this series, forging a 9-4 record in his 10-plus seasons.

To make it seven in a row, and continue their climb back up the league standings, Bona will again have to display that toughness.

“(We’re) trying to get more offensive rebounds than them,” Schmidt said. “Second chance points are huge, and that’s how we won against Duquesne.

“They’re number one in the league for a reason. They send four, sometimes five guys to the backboard, so it’s important for us to 1. Try to keep the ball above the foul line so we don’t have to do a lot of rotations, and then when the shot is taken, you’ve got to make sure you’re blocking out your guy.

He added: “It’s really important in this game that we do a decent job on the backboard.”

Griffin is expecting to go down to the wire with the Billikens, who have beaten Dayton (75-65), Joe’s (60-59) and Fordham (73-50) as part of their current win streak.

“I have a feeling it’s going to be a battle until the end,” he said. “So it’s just a matter of playing defense, rebounding, just playing to our strengths.”