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TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
DATES: November 27-29, 2009
SITE: Redbird Arena (10,200)
COURT: Doug Collins Court
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
WEB AUDIO & STATS: www.GOBONNIES.com
GAME ONE: vs. Southeast Missouri State (Nov. 27)
TIP-OFF: 9:00 P.M. EST
SERIES: First Meeting
GAME TWO: vs. Norfolk State (Nov. 28)
TIP-OFF: 9:00 P.M. EST
SERIES: First Meeting
GAME THREE: at Illinois State (Nov. 29)
TIP-OFF: 4:30 P.M. EST
SERIES: St. Bonaventure leads, 1-0
UP NEXT: at Mississippi State
Saturday, December 5 at 2:00 P.M. EST

AT A GLANCE
Coming off its best defensive effort since 1995, St. Bonaventure (2-1) will turn in its Thanksgiving break for three games at the Basketball Travelers Classic hosted by Illinois State. The Bonnies will open the three-day stretch against Southeast Missouri State (Nov. 27) followed by a meeting with Norfolk State (Nov. 28) and finish against the host Redbirds (Nov. 29). St. Bonaventure has started 2-1 in each of its three years under head coach Mark Schmidt and with a win can equal last season's 3-1 start.

IN-SEASON TOURNAMENTS
This weekend's BTI Classic will mark the fourth straight year the Bonnies have taken part in an in-season tournament. St. Bonaventure is 14-6 during in-season tournaments since 1999. Last year, the Brown and White defeated BIG EAST foe Rutgers on its home court to win the Garden State Challenge. Below is a look at the Bonnies' recent in-season tournament success.

1999: 2-0 (Sparkletts Invite/1st Place)
MVP: Tim Winn (26 ppg, 10 steals)
2000: 2-0 (Hispanic Fund Classic/1st Place)
MVP: Kevin Houston (17 ppg)
2002: 2-1 (Paradise Jam/2nd Place)
MVP: Marques Green (20.7 ppg)
2004: 1-1 (Flint Hills Islander Invite/3rd Place)
2005: 1-1 (FIU Holiday Classic)
2006: 1-1 (2K Sports Classic)
2007: 2-1 (BTI Classic/2nd Place)
2008: 3-1 (Garden State Challenge/1st Place)

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE (NOV. 27)
Led by first-year head coach Dickey Nutt, Southeast Missouri State snapped what was the nation's longest losing streak at 21-games earlier in the week with its 70-64 overtime road win at Northern Illinois. Like Mark Schmidt at St. Bonaventure, Nutt is the 19th coach in the program's history after serving as the head coach at Arkansas State for 13 seasons. The Redhawks are off to a 1-4 start after suffering a tough 86-76 loss to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday night. Freshman guard Derek Thompson is off to a promising start in his first season, registering 19 points and 15 points, respectively, off the bench the last two games. Thompson leads the team in scoring at a 13.3 per game clip, while senior forward LaMont Russell's 7.8 rebounds per game lead the way. Russell set a career-high with 16 boards in the team's win over Northern Illinois.

VS. THE OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE
St. Bonaventure is 9-3 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference foes. The Bonnies haven't faced an opponent from the OVC since 1970 when it defeated Tennessee Tech, 82-58. All of the team's 12 meetings against the Ohio Valley came in the 50's, 60's and early 70's.

SCOUTING NORFOLK STATE (NOV. 28)
Norfolk State is off to a 1-2 start under third-year head coach Anthony Evans. The Spartans posted a win over Maine when they overcame a 14-point second half deficit for a thrilling 72-71 victory. Norfolk State finished third in the MEAC in 2008-09 with a 9-7 record in league play and a 13-18 overall mark. The Spartans return three starters and eight players from last year's club, led by senior guard Michael Deloach. The 6-foot guard led the MEAC in scoring last season (21.5) and set a school single-season Division record with 666 points. Deloach was named to the MEAC All-Conference first team and NABC All-District 15 second team. Also returning from last year's club is junior guard Aleek Pauline, who set a school record with 118 assists in 2008-09. The Spartans have also received solid play from New York City natives Rob Hampton (11.3 ppg) and Joe Dorsett-Jeffreys (10 ppg) so far this season. Norfolk State has seven New York natives on its roster.

VS. THE MEAC
St. Bonaventure is 6-2 all-time against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foes. The Bonnies defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore last season by a 75-60 margin, but prior to that had lost two straight against Hampton.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE (NOV. 29)
Picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley in the preseason poll, Illinois State enters the tournament with an unblemished 3-0 record. The Redbirds are led by third-year head coach Tim Jankovich, who became the second-fastest coach in Illinois State history to win his 50th career game in this year's season opener. The strength of the team lies in its senior backcourt of preseason Missouri Valley Player of the Year pick Osiris Eldridge and Lloyd Phillips. Through three games, the duo is averaging a combined 33.4 points per game, led by Eldridge's 20.7 per contest clip. A two-time first team All-Conference choice and the reigning State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament MVP, Eldridge has scored in double figures all three games this season and a total of 73 times for his career. The big man rotation of senior Dinma Odiakosa (11.7 ppg & 7.3 rpg), junior Tony Lewis (8.7 ppg & 6.0 rpg), sophomore Kellen Thornton (6.0 ppg & 4.0 rpg) and freshman Jackie Carmichael (4.3 ppg & 2.7 rpg) have coach Jankovich extremely productive minutes.

SERIES HISTORY
The lone meeting in the all-time series, oddly enough, also came during an in-season tournament on Dec. 23, 1987, when the Bonnies defeated Illinois State, 63-61, in the championship game of the Mazda Gator Bowl Classic in Jacksonville, Fla. Both teams shot well over 50 percent during the game, but the difference came at the free throw line where St. Bonaventure had eight more attempts. Senior Patrick Allen had 24 points on 11-of-12 from the field and hauled in eight rebounds for the Bonnies.

VS. MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE
St. Bonaventure is 13-7 all-time against the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bonnies have dropped two straight against the MVC with the last coming in the form of an 83-63 loss at Creighton on Nov. 29, 2003.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Standing 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is center of attention for opposing teams. That hasn't stopped the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year from getting off to a great start to his second season, as the Canadian big man leads the team in both scoring (17.3) and rebounding (7.3). Nicholson is shooting an impressive 65 percent (22-34) from the field and has shot below 50 percent just nine times in 33 career games. Nicholson poured in a game-high 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field against St. John's despite playing 28 minutes due to first half foul trouble and followed with a game-high 11 rebounds against Binghamton in 27 minutes.

RACE TO 100
After producing the second-best shot total in school history as a freshman, ANDREW NICHOLSON is now trying to become the fastest player in program history to reach 100 career blocks. Nicholson currently stands at 91 rejections through 33 career games. All-time shot block leader CASWELL CYRUS accomplished the feat in 36 games. Cyrus' 100th career block came in the 12th game of his sophomore year when he set the then-school record with eight blocks vs. Siena. Nicholson tied the record last year vs. Princeton and then broke it three games later at Bucknell with nine blocks. Nicholson currently leads the Atlantic 10 at 3.3 blocks per game.

PAINTING THE TOWN BROWN
Despite only connecting on eight three-pointers through two games, St. Bonaventure has been extremely efficient on offense. The Bonnies have shot 50 percent or better in three of the six halves this season and are shooting at an impressive 53 percent clip (79-150) through three games. The easy buckets around the rim have led to a commanding 124-88 edge in points in the paint. The 124 points in the paint account for 60 percent of the team's offense this season.

MR. NOVEMBER
Senior JONATHAN HALL has made an immediate impact during his short time in the Brown and White, especially in the opening month of the season. Last season, Hall scored in double figures in the opening nine games, including all six games in November. Hall has continued his early season success with three more double figure games, including a game-high 20 points in the season opener, to bring his career nine-game November scoring average to 15.4 points. Hall currently ranks 15th in the A-10 in scoring and tied for second in field goal percentage (.667) with teammate MICHAEL DAVENPORT.

HOME COOKING
With last Friday's win over Binghamton, St. Bonaventure extended its home Reilly Center win streak to six games. The Bonnies closed last season on a four-game A-10 home win streak. Over the six-game win streak, the Bonnies have out-scored their opponents by 12 points per game and have shot over 50 percent in four of the six games for a cumulative 51 percent clip (161-317). Senior JONATHAN HALL is averaging 16.1 points and 7.2 rebounds during the home win streak. Hall has a 30-point and 20-point effort during the run. Senior CHRIS MATTHEWS (11.5) and sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON (11.2) are also averaging double figure points during the win streak.

IN OUR DEFENSE
After giving up 70 or more points nine times in Atlantic 10 play last year, the Bonnies have made a commitment to working hard on the defensive end. Last Friday that hard work paid off, as St. Bonaventure held Binghamton to just 40 points - the best defensive effort since 1995 when it held Appalachian State to 32 points. The 26-point win also marked the first time since 2000 that the Brown and White have held an opponent under 50 points. Through three games, the Bonnies have scored 53 points off opponents' turnovers and have held two opponents to 40 percent or less from the field.

THE CINCINNATI KID
Head coach MARK SCHMIDT has used a common theme to describe his freshmen at St. Bonaventure: "The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores." After a freshman season in which he averaged 3.3 points and played sparingly, MICHAEL DAVENPORT shown the truth to Schmidt's statement early on this season. After scoring in double figures one time as a freshman, the Cincinnati, Ohio product has already produced a pair of double-digit efforts off the bench this season. Davenport began his second season in style, scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 from the field. Last game, he equaled a career-high with a pair of three-pointers en route to 10 points in 16 minutes against Binghamton. Davenport is third on the team in scoring (11.7) and is tied for second in the A-10 in field goal percentage (.667).

BENCH POINTS
One of the keys to St. Bonaventure success in 2008-09 was the play of its bench. The Bona reserves out-scored the opposing bench 23 times last season and have picked up where they left off. Sophomore MICHAEL DAVENPORT led the way with 19 points in 28 minutes off the pine against Cleveland State, while seven players off the bench combined for 28 points against Binghamton. The Bona bench supplied at least one double figure scorer in 17 games in 2008-09.

BOARD WORK
St. Bonaventure has out-rebounded each of its three opponents this year for a +8.0 margin. The Bonnies currently rank third in the conference in rebounding, while 11 of the 14 A-10 teams sport a positive margin. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON leads the way at 7.3 caroms per game, while seven other players are averaging over 2.5 boards. A total of eight players have grabbed at least one offensive rebound, highlighted by a team-high six from Nicholson and JONATHAN HALL.

LICENSE TO STEAL
Junior Malcolm Eleby's ability to play multiple guard positions is thanks in large to ability to play defense. The Philadelphia, Pa. native led the Brown and White in steals last season with 42 and is off to another good start on the defensive end. Eleby has registered back-to-back multi-steal games bringing his career total to 16. Eleby has a steal in all three games this year and in 26 of his last 33 contests dating back to last season.