AMHERST, Mass. - UMass used a 15-0 early first-half run and cruised the rest of the way to an 83-44 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night to earn the Minutemen's 20th victory of the season. The senior duo of Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme proved too much in the post scoring a combined 33 points in the game. UMass improves to 20-7 overall and 10-3 in the Atlantic 10 marking the 13th time in school history that the Minutemen have won 20-or-more games in one season. The last time UMass won 20 games was in 1997-98, when they went 21-11.

With the win UMass is now tied with Xavier for first place in the Atlantic 10 after the Musketeers defeated Rhode Island, 98-72 in Cincinnati.

The 39-point win was the largest at the Mullins Center, as UMass beat Rhode Island, 89-50 in 2000.

The Minutemen again received a spark from its bench as freshman Ricky Harris (Baltimore, Md.) and Luke Bonner (Concord, N.H.) chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively. Bonner scored all of his career-high point total in the second half highlighted by a pair of three-pointers, while Harris had seven of his career-high in the first half.

The Minutemen were extremely efficient shooting from the floor for the game hitting 53 percent thanks in part to Freeman and Lasme in the paint. Freeman hit 8-of-9 shots for 16 points, while Lasme also went 8-of-9 from the floor for 17 points. As a team, UMass outscored St. Bonaventure (6-20, 3-10) 60-to-36 in the paint.

The Bonnies were led by A.J. Hawkins who scored 12 points and Paul Williams who added 11 points.

St. Bona led 7-4 just 2 minutes and 20 seconds into the game. The Minutemen then mounted a 15-0 run sparked by a jumper from sophomore point guard Chris Lowe and a dunk by Lasme.

At halftime, UMass flexed its muscle to a 36-22 lead which grew to as large as 43 points in the second half. The Minutemen started the half on a 20-to-4 run leading 56-28 on a jumper from Bonner.

UMass also controlled the glass with a 43-to-33 edge in rebounds sparked by junior Gary Forbes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) who led all players with 10.

UMass hosts Saint Louis on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., at the Mullins Center.