Brown and White look to snap six-game losing streak vs. Purple Eagles

GAME NOTES | SEASONS STATS | LIVE STATS | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE VIDEO | PREGAME CHAT

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Tuesday, December 22, 2009
SITE: Gallagher Center (2,400)
TIP-OFF: 7:00 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: Time Warner SportsNet (Tape Delay)
TALENT: Jeremy White (Play-by-Play)
Mike MacDonald (Analyst)
CHANNELS: Buffalo (Ch. 13), Olean, (Ch. 13)
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
Dr. John Watson (Analyst)
WEB AUDIO: www.GOBONNIES.com
SERIES: Niagara leads, 86-63
UP NEXT: vs. Canisius
Wednesday, Dec. 30 @ 7 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
Still in search of its first road win of the season, St. Bonaventure heads north to take on Little 3 rival Niagara in the 150th meeting between the two tradition-rich programs. The Bonnies dropped a hard-fought game at #5 Syracuse on Saturday night, while Niagara - winners of three of its last four - have had nine days off from game action.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Not only is it the 150th meeting all-time between the two schools, but its the 50th meeting at "Taps" Gallagher Center, which opened in 1949. The Bonnies are 27-22 all-time at the Gallagher Center, but have dropped three in a row there. Niagara has taken six in a row in the series and own a 83-66 all-time edge. The Purple Eagles have scored 100 or more points three times over the six-game streak. The Gallagher Center has produced some high-scoring affairs as of late, as the last three games have featured a combined 183 points per contest. The recent Purple Eagle run put an end to an 11-game win streak by St. Bonaventure that spanned over eight seasons (1993-01).

THIS DAY IN BONABASKETBALL
St. Bonaventure is 3-2 all-time when playing on December 22, dating back to the 1975-76 season in the Bona record books - the final season that has actual dates recorded. The Bonnies defeated Oral Roberts 70-67 in the second round of the San Juan Shootout in 1997 before falling to Iowa in the championship. It was the second time that season the Bonnies advanced to an in-season tournament title game. Sophomore TIM WINN led the way with 23 points, including the team's final 10 of the game.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES
Niagara takes the court for the first time since Dec. 13 after going through finals week. The Purple Eagles are 7-4 under 11th year head coach Joe Mihalich. In its last game, Niagara came away with a 76-68 win at Illinois State, a place where the Bonnies fell by a 70-67 outcome. The Purple Eagles are led by a sensational season class of Bilal Benn, Rob Garrison, Tyrone Lewis and Demetrius Williamson, who combined to average 55.3 points per game as the team's top four scorers. In all, five players average double figure points for Niagara, who posts a 74.2 per game clip as a team. The Purple Eagles average an impressive 11.8 turnovers per game and make 9.2 three-pointers per contest - figures that rank 29th and 15th in the nation, respectively. After missing the first four games of the season, Lewis, the reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, is averaging a team-high 17.1 points per game. Benn has missed the last two games with a knee injury and is questionable for Tuesday's game. Benn was dominate through the team's first nine games, averaging a double-double of 15.6 points and 11.0 rebounds. Niagara is 3-1 at home this season, but lost its last game at the Gallagher Center to Buffalo.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 29-41 (3rd Season)
Overall: 111-131 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 8-24 (3rd Season)
vs. Niagara: 0-2

NIAGARA HEAD COACH
Jim Mahlich
@ Niagara: 212-136 (11th Season)
Overall: same
vs. St. Bonaventure: 6-4

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Tonight's game along with last Saturday's contest at Syracuse will be televised by Time Warner SportsNet. Saturday's game against the nationally-ranked Orange was shown live in the Rochester, Buffalo and Olean regions, while Brown and White's contest at Niagara will only air on tape delay. The game will be shown on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 7 p.m. in the Buffalo and Olean region.

IN OUR DEFENSE
After failing to hold an opponent to less than 50 points over the previous 275 games, St. Bonaventure held back-to-back opponents to 41 and 44 points, respectively, in the month of November (Binghamton & Southeast Missouri State). It marked the first time since 1982, that the Brown and White have held two consecutive opponents under 50 points. Against Savannah State on Dec. 12, St. Bonaventure held its third opponent of the season in the 40s during a 79-47 victory. The defensive effort marked the first time in 50 years, the 1958-59 season, that the Brown and White have held three opponents in the 40s during the same season.

EASY DOES IT
Thanks to solid interior play, easy buckets in transition and points off turnovers, St. Bonaventure has shot an impressive 51 percent from the field to lead the A-10 and rank fifth in the nation. The Bonnies have shot over 50 percent in seven of 10 games and 12 of 20 periods. The Brown and White's best shooting performance of the season came against Norfolk State when it finished 37-of-55 from the field for a 67 percent clip. The team's top percentage in a half came over the opening 20 minutes of the season against Cleveland State when it sank 77 percent (17-22) of its shots. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON (.646) and senior JONATHAN HALL (.582) rank first and fourth in the A-10, respectively, and in the top 25 nationally in field goal percentage, while a total of six players are above the 50 percent clip.

THE CN TOWER
Standing 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is the 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 (15.6) and rebounding (7.2). Nicholson leads the A-10 with a 64.6 percent (64-99) field goal percentage and is one of two players to rank in top 10 in the conference in both scoring (9th) and rebounding (7th). Nicholson poured in a game-high 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field against St. John's and then equaled a career-high with 29 points and a career-best 14 boards against Norfolk State. He has led the team in scoring six times and rebounding five times this season, including both in the same game on four occasions.

SOFT TOUCH
Who says big men can't shoot? According to the most recent NCAA statistics, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is one of two players in the nation shooting 60 percent or better from the field and at least 80 percent from the free throw line. To be eligible for the rankings, the player has to make five field goals per game and an average of 2.5 free throws per contest. The 6-foot-9 second-year forward connected on all eight of his attempts from the charity stripe against Savannah St. and ranks second in the A-10 in free throw percentage. He also leads the conference in field goal percentage (.646) after finishing second in 2008-09 and is 24 of his last 32 from the field over the past three games. Nicholson is joined by Lafayette's Jared Mintz on the exclusive list.

GET READY, GET SET, GO!
Simultaneous with its solid 6-4 start to the season has been St. Bonaventure's ability to get off to great starts in the first half. The Bonnies have taken the lead into the locker room in seven of 10 games, including five leads of 13 points or more. St. Bonaventure out-scored those seven opponents 266-178, good for a 12.6 margin. The Bonnies are shooting 51 percent (140-275) in the first stanza this season. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is averaging team bests of 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds over the opening 20 minutes.

A GIVE, BUT MOSTLY TAKE RELATIONSHIP
Through nine games, the Bonnies have scored 205 points (20.5 per game) off opponents' turnovers and have held five opponents to 40 percent or less from the field. Over the last three games, St. Bonaventure has forced 60 turnovers that have led to 82 points.

BOMBS AWAY
After going through the worst three-game scoring stretch of his career at St. Bonaventure to open the season, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS has found the shooting stroke that helped him sink 81 three-pointers a year ago. Matthews enjoyed a breakout tournament at the BTI Classic, averaging 21 points and six trifectas per game over three games. Matthews equaled the school record of eight three-pointers in the final game against Illinois State, while also tying his own career-best of 28 points. The Washington, D.C. product's 3.4 three-pointers per game currently lead the A-10 and rank 16th in the country. Matthews has made three or more treys in a game six times already this season helping him rank second on the team in scoring at 12.4 per game. In just 40 games as a Bonnie, Matthews has moved into 11th place on the all-time three-pointers list with 115.=

THE CINCINNATI KID
After a freshman season in which he averaged 3.3 points and played sparingly, MICHAEL DAVENPORT has shown major progress in his sophomore campaign. After scoring in double figures one time as a freshman, the Cincinnati, Ohio product has already produced four double-digit efforts this season. Davenport began his second season in style, scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 from the field off the bench. Davenport is fourth on the team in scoring (8.7) and second in assists (33). After coming off the bench over the first seven contests, Davenport has made three consecutive starts.


Partial credit for St. Bonaventure's sensational shooting percentage is its improvement in passing the ball. The Bonnies currently lead the A-10 in assists per game at 16.7, a figure that ranks 31st in the nation. As a team, St. Bonaventure has passed out an assist on 60 percent of its field goals, including a season-best 26 against Norfolk State. Junior point guard MALCOLM ELEBY ranks third in the A-10 at 4.6 per game and has led the team in assists six times. Sophomore MICHAEL DAVENPORT passed out a team season-high and career-best eight assists in the win over Norfolk State. As a team, the Bonnies have had 15 or more assists in eight games and a pair of contests with 20 or more helpers.