PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Dasonte Bowen posted a career- and team-best 20 points as the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team overcame a double-digit second-half deficit to defeat George Mason 63-57 in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.

Trailing 44-33 with 15:20 to go, the Bonnies outscored the Patriots 30-13 the rest of the way to steal the victory.

Bowen shot 5 for 12 from the field and 9 for 9 from the free-throw line. Frank Mitchell posted 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting and seven rebounds. Cayden Charles contributed 12 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the charity stripe, adding seven rebounds.

St. Bonaventure (17-16) advanced to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament against No. 4-seeded Dayton today at PPG Paints Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be televised live on USA Network.

After trailing 9-4 early, SBU tied the contest at 11 off a Bowen triple at the 11:58 mark. George Mason (23-9) responded with a 9-4 spurt, before a Mitchell hook shot cut SBU’s deficit back to one possession, 20-17, with 8:56 remaining.

The Patriots answered with a pair of 3s to push their edge to 26-17, but the Bonnies countered with six straight points, capped by a Daniel Egbuniwe free throw, to go down four.

George Mason closed the half on an 8-2 run to extend their lead to double digits, 34-24, heading into the locker room. Mitchell led the Bonnies with 8 points at the break.

Egbuniwe pulled Bonaventure within six twice — first off a putback layup, then a 3-pointer — in the first three minutes of the frame.

GMU then scored five unanswered points to build its largest lead of the game, 44-33, with 15:20 left.

Over the next 4:30, the Bonnies crafted a 12-2 surge, punctuated by an alley-oop throwdown from Andrew Osasuyi, to get within a score, 46-35. During that span, Daryll Simmons II canned a triple, and Bowen tallied 5 points.

George Mason would hold on to its advantage until the 3:40 mark, when Charles hit a pair of free throws to give Bonaventure its first lead of the day, 56-55.

The Bonnies would not look back. Bowen drained two more free throws to extend the lead to three with 2:48 left. George Mason hit a jumper to go down a point, but Mitchell muscled in two second-chance baskets and Charles landed a free throw in the final two minutes to seal the win.

NOTES: Bowen is averaging 18.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game in two Atlantic 10 tournament games. … Bowen has scored 9 or more points in 12 of his last 13 games. … After going 9 for 9 from the free-throw line, Bowen is 24 for 26 (92.3%) from the stripe in his last six games. … Bowen and Charles combined for 17 of St. Bonaventure’s points during its 30-13 run to close the game.