GAME NOTES (PDF) | SEASON STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Wednesday, December 30, 2009
SITE: Reilly Center (5,780)
TIP-OFF: 7:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
Dr. John Watson (Analyst)
WEB AUDIO & VIDEO: www.GOBONNIES.com
SERIES: St. Bonaventure leads, 94-63
LAST MEETING: Nov. 29, 2008
Canisius 68, St. Bonaventure 66
UP NEXT: at Marshall
Saturday, Jan. 2 @ 2 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
St. Bonaventure will close the book on 2009 by hosting its oldest rival Canisius at the Reilly Center in the 158th meeting between the two schools. The Bonnies will look to put an end to their current two-game skid and a three-game slide against Little 3 opponents after dropping a tough 77-71 decision at Niagara before Christmas break. St. Bonaventure has enjoyed the friendly confines of the Reilly Center as of late, winning its last eight games at home.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The 158th meeting will have a lot to live up to after last year's game featured 13 lead changes before Canisius' Julius Coles knocked down the game-winning three-pointer with 5.4 seconds to go. St. Bonaventure owns a 94-63 edge in the all-time series, including a 27-5 mark at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies won the first 24 meetings at the RC, but the Griffs have won five out of the last eight on the Bonnies' home court. Other than a three-year hiatus in the early 40s and the 2001-02 season, the Bonnies and Griffs have met every season since 1919.

THIS DAY IN BONA BASKETBALL
St. Bonaventure is 9-7 all-time when playing on December 30, dating back to the 1975-76 season in the Bona record books - the final season that has actual dates recorded. This will be the Brown and White's fourth straight year with a game on Dec. 30. Last year, the Bonnies survived double-overtime to defeat Bucknell 90-82. Then-freshman ANDREW NICHOLSON had 22 points, eight rebounds and a school record nine blocks in the win. The Bonnies and Griffs have squared off twice on Dec. 30, with Canisius coming away victorious in the last meeting in 2000 at the Reilly Center.

SCOUTING THE GRIFFS
Winners of two straight at the Southern Miss Christmas Classic, Canisius enters tonight's game with a 6-6 overall record. Defense fueled the Griffs two wins down south, as they held their last two opponents to an average of 52.0 points. Canisius is also an impressive 5-0 when holding the opposition to under percent from the field. This will be the Griffs sixth true road game and their ninth game overall away from their home arena. A win against St. Bonaventure would equal Canisius' season-long three-game win streak. Leading the way is senior Frank Turner, who comes in as the MAAC's leading scorer at 17.7 points per game. The 5-foot-10 Atlantic City native finished in double figures in the team's first 11 games, highlighted by a career-high 30 points in a win over Southern Miss. Turner does more than just score, as he is just nine assists shy of 500 for his career, while also leading the MAAC in steals (28). Junior Julius Coles continues to build off his breakout sophomore campaign and ranks fifth in the MAAC in scoring (15.4). Coles hit the game-winning three-pointer with 5.4 seconds remaining in last year's contest vs. the Bonnies.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 29-42 (3rd Season)
Overall: 111-132 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 8-24 (3rd Season)
vs. Canisius: 2-1

CANISIUS HEAD COACH
Tom Parrotta
@ Canisius: 35-70 (4th Season)
Overall: same
vs. St. Bonaventure: 2-1

DO IT ALL HALL
After becoming just the second player in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists a year ago, senior JONATHAN HALL is quietly putting together another solid season. Hall ranks in the top three on the club in nearly every statistical category; points (11.8/3rd), rebounds (4.5/2nd), assists (3.1/2nd), steals (15/2nd), blocks (4/2nd) and field goal percentage (.564/2nd). The Miami, Fla. native has scored in double figures a team-best 10 times, while leading the way on the backboard five times, including the last three games. Last game at Niagara, Hall recorded his fourth career double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

THE CN TOWER
Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is the center of attention for opposing teams. That hasn't stopped the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year from avoiding a sophomore slump, as the Canadian big man leads the team in both scoring (16.4) and rebounding (7.2). Nicholson leads the A-10 with a 65.5 percent (74-113) field goal percentage and is one of two players to rank in top 10 in the conference in both scoring (8th) and rebounding (8th). 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 a team-high three 20-point games this season. Nicholson has led the team in scoring seven times, including four straight, and rebounding five times this season, including both in the same game on four occasions.

DUNK YOU VERY MUCH
Blessed with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and plenty of spring, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON'S career 62 percent shoot clip is aided by his ability to dunk the basketball. Through 41 career games, Nicholson has thrown down 60 dunks out of his 228 field goals. In 2008-09, Nicholson had 37 dunks and has followed with 23 already this season. Nicholson set a career-high with seven slams at Niagara on Dec. 22, besting his previous record of five at Duquesne last season. The Mississauga, Ontario product has a dunk in 25 career games, including 17 multi-dunk performances and 11 games of three or more dunks.

HOME COOKING
With a 4-0 mark this season, St. Bonaventure has extended its home Reilly Center win streak to eight games - the longest since a 10-game streak that stretched from the end of the 2000-01 season (3 games) to the start of the 2001-02 campaign (7 games). The Bonnies closed last season on a four-game A-10 home win streak. Over the eight-game win streak, the Bonnies have out-scored their opponents by 14.4 points per game and have shot over 50 percent in six of the eight games for a cumulative 51 percent clip (217-423). Senior JONATHAN HALL is averaging 15.0 points during the home win streak. Hall has a 30-point and 20-point effort during the run. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON (12.9) and senior CHRIS MATTHEWS (12.0) are also averaging double figure points during the win streak.

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 his last 12 shots from the charity stripe and ranks third in the A-10 in free throw percentage (.842). He also leads the conference in field goal percentage (.655) after finishing second in 2008-09 and is 34 of his last 46 from the field over the past four games. Nicholson is joined by Lafayette's Jared Mintz on the exclusive list.

A GIVE, BUT MOSTLY TAKE RELATIONSHIP
Through 11 games, the Bonnies have scored 215 points (19.5 per game) off opponents' turnovers and have held five opponents to 40 percent or less from the field. Over the three games prior to its loss at Niagara, St. Bonaventure forced 60 turnovers that led to 82 points.

EASY DOES IT
Thanks to solid interior play, easy buckets in transition and points off turnovers, St. Bonaventure has shot an impressive 50.2 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 11 games and 12 of 22 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 (.655) and senior JONATHAN HALL (.564) rank first and fourth in the A-10, respectively, and in the top 25 nationally in field goal percentage, while a total of five players are above the 50 percent clip.

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 3.3 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 11.8 per game. In just 41 games as a Bonnie, Matthews has moved into a tie for 10th place on the all-time three-pointers list with 117.

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 (8.5), second in assists (33) and third in rebounding (3.3). After coming off the bench over the first seven contests, Davenport has made four consecutive starts.

POINT GUARD BY COMMITTEE
Just like the early part of last year, head coach MARK SCHMIDT has opted to use a pair of players to occupy the point guard position. Juniors OGO ADEGBOYE and MALCOLM ELEBY make up the Bona floor generals, combining to average 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. Eleby has made 41 straight starts at point guard, while Adegboye is in his first season after transferring from Lamar CC (Colo.). A more physical point guard at 6-foot-3, Eleby has led the team in assists seven times and ranks third in the A-10 at 4.5 helpers per game. Adegboye's breakout came at Mississippi State when he scored a team-high 13 points.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
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 16.2, a figure that ranks 31st in the nation. As a team, St. Bonaventure has passed out an assist on 58 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 4.5 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.

THE DUNK TANK
Armed with more athleticism and depth, St. Bonaventure's eye-opening 77 percent shooting percentage in the first half in its season-opening win over Cleveland State was fueled by a plethora of dunks and layups. The easy buckets have led to 404 points in the paint so far this season. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON'S 23 dunks so far this season are more than half of the team's 38. Last season, Nicholson led the team with 37 dunks.

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 six multi-steal games bringing his career total to 20. Eleby has a steal in 10 games this year and in 33 of his last 41 contests since becoming the starting point guard.