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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
ST. BONAVENTURE (10-14, 3-8) at LA SALLE (11-14, 3-8)
DATE: Sunday, February 21, 2010
SITE: Tom Gola Arena (4,000)
TIP-OFF: 4:00 p.m. ET
TELEVISION: CBS College Sports
TALENT: Noah Coslov (Play-by-Play)
Steve Wolf (Analyst)
CHANNELS: Time Warner SportsNet - Buffalo, Olean
Comcast SportsNet - Philadelphia
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
AUDIO & PREGAME CHAT: GOBONNIES.com
SERIES: La Salle leads, 11-9
LAST MEETING: February7, 2009
St. Bonaventure 72, La Salle 67 (Box Score - Pg. 2)
UP NEXT: at Fordham
Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
St. Bonaventure will make its second trip in as many weeks to Philadelphia when it takes on La Salle Sunday afternoon in a crucial Atlantic 10 showdown. The two teams currently sit in a tie for 11th place in the A-10 standings and the winner will own the tie-breaker in the race to make the A-10 Tournament. A win would go along way for both teams, as they've struggled in the month of February. The Bonnies have dropped six of their last seven heading into Saturday, while the Explorers are currently on a season-long five-game losing streak.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Explorers own a slight 11-9 advantage in the all-time series and prior to last year had taken six of the previous seven meetings. St. Bonaventure has dropped three straight at Tom Gola Arena and is 3-5 on the Explorers' home court. The Brown and White enter Sunday's tilt with a 17-game losing streak in the city of Philadelphia with their last win coming at La Salle on Jan. 10, 2002. The two teams have met six times in February with La Salle owning a 4-3 advantage. The home team has won 10 of the 17 games in the series, while La Salle has won two of three neutral site contests.

THIS DAY IN BONA BASKETBALL
St. Bonaventure is 4-4 all-time when playing on February 21, dating back to the 1975-76 season in the Bona record books - the final season that has actual dates recorded. GREG SANDERS scored a game-high 29 points in 1977 in a 98-76 win over Siena at the Reilly Center on this date. The 20-point game was one of 17 for Sanders that season, which culminated with a 40-point game against Houston in the 1977 NIT Championship - a 94-91 St. Bonaventure win.

SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS
Picked to finish in fourth place in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll with a pair of first place votes, a rash of injuries has kept La Salle from showcasing its entire arsenal of talent during conference play. Seniors Kimmani Barrett, Ruben Guillandeaux and Yves Mekongo will all miss Sunday's contest, as the trio has combined to score 2,839 career points. The Explorers' recent five-game losing streak has dropped their record to 11-14 on the season and 3-8 in the A-10. To La Salle's credit, the past five games have come against five of the A-10's top eight teams. Despite the injuries, the Explorers still have A-10 All-Conference guard Rodney Green. The senior guard ranks third in the conference in scoring at 18.4 per game thanks to 11 20-point outings. Green has scored in double figures in 51 of his last 52 games and is ninth on La Salle's all-time scoring list with 1,819 points. Green and La Salle legend Lionel Simmons are the only two players in program history to accumulate 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Freshman big man Aaric Murray has lived up to the preseason hype, as the three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week is averaging 12.3 points and 6.6 boards per contest. The 6-foot-10 Philadelphia product is second among freshmen nationally in blocks (2.4) and has four double-doubles. Murray was rated as a top 50 recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. The Explorers have posted a 5-5 record at Tom Gola Arena this season.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 33-51 (3rd Season)
Overall: 115-105 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 11-32 (3rd Season)
vs. La Salle: 1-2

LA SALLE HEAD COACH
Dr. John Giannini
@ La Salle: 82-93 (6th Season)
Overall: 379-242 (21st Season)
Atlantic 10: 38-53 (6th Season)
vs. St. Bonaventure: 5-2

MATCHUP TO WATCH
The St. Bonaventure and La Salle faithful both have plenty to look forward to in the future with two of the best up-and-coming big men in the country on their rosters. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON, the reigning A-10 Rookie of the Year, leads the Bonnies in both scoring (16.1) and rebounding (7.6) in his second campaign, while La Salle freshman Aaric Murray has enjoyed a terrific opening 25 games of his collegiate career. Murray is third on the team in scoring (12.3) and second in rebounding (6.6) while ranking second among freshman nationally at 2.4 blocks per game. The similarities between the two are scary, as Nicholson averaged 13.1 points, 6.2 boards and 3.1 blocks through his first 25 games as a freshman in 2008-09.

CITY OF NOT SO BROTHERLY LOVE
Philadelphia hasn't lived up to its nickname as the city of "Brotherly Love" in the case of St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies have dropped 17 straight games in Philadelphia during the regular season against their trio of Atlantic 10 foes and are just 5-55 all-time in Philly. Oddly enough, St. Bonaventure's last win in Philadelphia came at Tom Gola Arena against La Salle on Jan. 10, 2002 in the form of a 68-62 win.

PHILLY CONNECTIONS
Sunday's game will be a homecoming for several current Bonnies that reign from the city of "Brotherly Love." Juniors LEWIS LEONARD and MALCOLM ELEBY are both Philadelphia natives, while assistant coach DINO PRESLEY grew up in South Philadelphia. Eleby excelled over a pair of games in his hometown last season, averaging 14 points, five rebounds and 4.5 assists at Saint Joseph's and Temple. The contest will be the last of two this season for the trio in front of their family and friends, unless the Bonnies come back to the city for the opening round of the A-10 Tournament.

RETURNING TO FORM
After missing three games with an ankle injury midway through January, senior JONATHAN HALL has started to return to form over the past four games. Hall is averaging 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and four assists over the past four games, highlighted by three doubles. The 6-foot-5 swingman has led the team in rebounding four of the last five games and scoring three times since returning from injury six games ago. Hall is one of 10 players in the A-10 that has a 20-point game and three double-doubles in conference play. The former JUCO Division I National Tournament MVP has also grabbed 15 offensive rebounds over the last four games, while no other Bona player has more than eight.

BOMBS AWAY
Senior CHRIS MATTHEWS has displayed the shooting stroke that helped him sink 81 three-pointers a year ago. Matthews equaled the school record of eight three-pointers against Illinois State, while also tying his own career-best of 28 points - both of which he set at Dayton in 2008-09. The Washington, D.C. product's 3.0 three-pointers per game currently lead the A-10 and rank 19th in the country. Matthews has made three or more treys in a game 12 times this season and at least one in 27 straight games dating back to last season. During his career as a Bonnie, Matthews has made a three in 51 of 54 games, helping him rank eighth on the all-time list with 153 trifectas. Matthews accounts for 62 percent of the team's three-point makes and his 72 treys on the year are the seventh-best single season total in school history.

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 (16.1) and rebounding (7.6). Nicholson leads the A-10 with a 58.5 percent (152-260) field goal percentage and is one of two players to rank in top 10 in the conference in both scoring (7th) and rebounding (8th). Nicholson has produced five 20-point games: vs. St. John's (26), vs. Norfolk State (29), at Niagara (24), at UMass (26) and at Duquesne (29). He also has a team-best three double-doubles and five double-digit rebound games. Nicholson has led the team in scoring 12 times, rebounding 11 times, including both in the same game on six occasions.

DO IT ALL HALL
After becoming just the second player in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists in the same year, senior JONATHAN HALL is putting together another solid season. Hall ranks second on the club in nearly every statistical category; points (13.0), rebounds (5.5), assists (3.6), blocks (14) and field goal percentage (.545). The Miami, Fla. native has scored in double figures a team-high 18 times, grabbed five or more rebounds 11 times and passed out at least five assists on six occasions. Hall ranks second in the A-10 in field goal percentage and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (+1.6). Three of Hall's team-best five double-doubles have come on the road.