ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The way things started for Moses Flowers, St. Bonaventure basketball fans could have been forgiven for thinking the Hartford transfer was a flop.

The scoring guard went 0 for 6 in the exhibition against Alfred and 0 for 5 at Canisius after a concussion kept him out of the opener against St. Francis, Pa. He spent most of the non-conference slate averaging less than five points per game.

Flowers came to the Bonnies as a consistent scorer, posting 855 points in three seasons at Hartford – one reduced to nine games by the pandemic – including averaging 14.1 last season.

Now, the two-time America East all-conference selection is showing his scoring touch with the Bonnies. A culmination of sorts was Flowers’ 20-point effort off the bench that sparked Bona to a 71-63 Atlantic 10 victory over Richmond on Saturday before 4,351 at the Reilly Center.

Flowers poured in 15 of his points after halftime, helping spark a 25-6 run that gave the Bonnies (10-8, 3-2) the lead for good. Shooting 7 of 9 from the field, 3 of 4 on 3-pointers, and 3 of 3 from the foul line, he produced a season-high in points against the Spiders (9-9, 3-2).

“Firepower,” coach Mark Schmidt said when asked what he likes about Flowers off the bench. “We’re not a great offensive team, but we need to have somebody coming off the bench that can give us a lift. We need somebody coming off the bench that can put the ball in the basket, and Moses in the last four or five games has done a really good job.”

Since scoring 10 points at Buffalo on Dec. 3, Flowers’ role in the Bonnies lineup has grown. He’s been at his best during A-10 play.

Through five games, Flowers is making his case to be a contender for the conference’s Sixth Man of the Year award. He is averaging 14.2 points per game (17th in the league), shooting 27 of 44 for 61.4 percent and 10 of 21 on threes for 47.6 (both 9th in the league), and has 1.6 steals per game (15th).

The key to the surge in production, Flowers said is “coming in and understanding my role and what I need to do to help my team win and help us be a better team offensively and defensively. “Just trying to come in and be a leader. Just be a professional at what I try to bring to the table.”

Bona averages 14.2 bench points a game, ranking 316 of 352 nationally through Saturday’s games. Flowers accounts for much of the team’s offensive production off the bench.

Flowers attributed his slow start to “coming into a new team and trying to understand what coach wants from us and what’s needed of me. It just came down to that. Once I started to get that, things started to click.”

Against the Spiders, Flowers, who sits just four points from 1,000 for his career, scored on drives to the basket, pull-up baseline jumpers, and long 3-pointers. His effort led the Bonnies to 48 points in the second half and helped erase a 29-23 deficit at intermission.

Daryl Banks III added 20 points for Bona and put the Spiders away with a clutch 3-pointer and foul shots.

After the Bonnies went ahead 56-41, Richmond battled back to make it 59-55 on a Tyler Burton 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 53 seconds remaining. Kyrell Luc made two free throws to extend the lead to six and Banks followed with a step-back 3-pointer with the shot clock running low to seal the victory with 1:36 left.

“It came to having the ball in my hands with eight seconds (on the shot clock),” Banks said. “I knew we had to make a play. I just got a little bit of space, shot it, and it went in.”

Another key play at the end was when Anquan Hill blocked a driving attempt from Isaiah Bigelow. Hill added 10 rebounds and a steal off the bench as he and Flowers led the Bonnies in plus-minus at plus-13 and plus-12, respectively.

“He’s a five-man that we’re trying to convert into a four-man,” Schmidt said of Hill. “There’s been some growing pains. But he’s long and athletic. He can block shots and rebound. He just has to play to his strengths. He did that today. He’s one of the reasons why we won.”

Luc posted 14 of his 17 points after halftime for Bona after starting the game 1 of 9 from the field.

The Bonnies shot 7 of 27 in the first half. The Spiders didn’t fare much better, going 19 of 50 for the game.

Matt Grace led Richmond with 16 points, with Burton adding 15. Bona held Burton, the reigning A-10 Player of the Week, to six points under his conference average of 21.8.

“I thought our defense really carried us,” Schmidt said. “That’s what we’ve been preaching to the guys. Offense is fickle. You never know. But the defense has to be the staple. If we hadn’t defended them, we could’ve been down 20 at halftime.”

Schmidt added winning the rebounding battle (34-32) and getting to the free throw line (19 of 23) were keys to the victory. The Bonnies also held the edge in points off turnovers (15-8) thanks to 15 Richmond giveaways.

Bona improve to 8-1 at home and ended the Spiders’ 3-game winning streak. Richmond was 7-2 in its last nine games.

“In order to compete in this league,” Schmidt said, “you have to protect your home court.”

The Bonnies stay at the Reilly Center for a meeting with Duquesne at 7 p.m. Wednesday.