Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | A-10 | VT
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In Brief
St. Bonaventure (2-1) travels to VT to face a Hokie team that will be playing its third game in five days, including a 69-58 loss to 5/5 Syracuse, in the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament.

Last Year Against VT
St. Bonaventure (6-4) fought back from a 31-16 deficit and a 41-28 halftime differential to force overtime before falling, 76-68, at the hands of Virginia Tech (7-4) Dec. 23, 2010 in front of 5,285 fans at Blue Cross Arena. Ogo Adegboye hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to knot the score at 65, but Tech earned the win with a 6-0 run at the end of overtime to cap the scoring.

VT Head Coach Seth Greenburg
Greenberg has a career record of 367-276 in 21 seasons as a collegiate head coach and a 154-106 record in his eight seasons at Virginia Tech. Under Greenberg, VT has advanced to the postseason five straight times, with an NCAA berth in 2006-07 and four straight NIT showings since.

Last Time Out
Junior Eric Mosley scored a career-high 17 points and senior forward Andrew Nicholson posted 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead St. Bonaventure to a 64-58 win over Siena at the Times Union Center. Demitrius Conger scored 11 of his 15 in the first half and hauled in eight rebounds for the game to help SBU to its first lead with a 3-pointer just 2.1 seconds before the break. The triple was part of a 16-5 run that bridged the halftime gap and helped the Bonnies (2-1) keep just in front of Siena (2-1).

Easy E
PG Eric Mosley, who joined SBU after  spending seasons at Cincinnati State and Austin Peay, recorded a career-high 17 points and hit 3-of-6 from distance against Siena. The Louisville, Ky. native has been lights-out from beyond the arc so far, hitting 8-of-14 overall (.571), including three triples in his last two outings, to raise his season scoring average to 12.0 ppg.

Double Down
Andrew Nicholson posted his 18th career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds at Siena on Monday. All 18 have occurred against different opponents and exactly half have come on the road.

Don't Forget Demitrius
Junior F Demitrius Conger was also a key contributor to the Bonnies' win over Siena, totaling 15 points and eight boards in 32 minutes. Conger has seen marked improvement in each of his three seasons in the Brown and White (FR: 3.6ppg/2.7rpg; SO: 10.0/5.0; JR: 10.7/6.0) and currently ranks tied for second in rebounding, second in minutes and third in scoring.

Block Party
Nicholson rejected four shots in back-to-back games at Cleveland State and Siena to bring his season tally to 10. The senior already owns three of the school's highest single-season block totals (see page 15) and will likely become just the second player in school history to block 200 shots in his career (191).

Davenport Held Scoreless
Senior G Michael Davenport was held scoreless against Siena, marking the first time since Feb. 7, 2010 (soph. season - 43 games) that the Cincinnati native has not scored in a game.

Franciscan Cup
SBU improved to 2-0 in Franciscan Cup games against Siena last Friday with a 64-58 triumph. St. Bonaventure president Sr. Margaret Carney and Siena president Fr. Kevin Mullen agreed that the schools should play for a traveling trophy when the teams meet on the hardwood. SBU won the inaugural cup last season, 82-79.

Good With the Bad
Mosley was 4-of-5 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range for 11 points in the Bonnies' last-second loss at Cleveland State. The four made field goals marked a career high at the time for the Louisville, Ky. native, as did the seven turnovers forced by an aggressive, pressing Cleveland State team.

Just Give Him Two
Nicholson ranks second behind Bona legend and Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Lanier with a .574 (606-1064) career field goal percentage that includes a 7-for-30 showing from beyond the 3-point line (1-7 this season). Excluding the 3-pointers, Nicholson's career field goal percentage is an absurd .584 (604-1034)!

Four Horsemen
Starters Michael Davenport (G), Demitrius Conger (F), Da'Quan Cook (F) and Andrew Nicholson (F) have started each of the last 34 games together. Nicholson has 65 consecutive starts overall.

10 or more …
Dating back to his sophomore season, Nicholson has scored in double figures in 38 of his last 39 games, the only single digit performance being a nine-point outing at Rhode Island last season.

House of Toupane
St. Bonaventure announced the signing of Jean Yves Toupane (Jawn two-PAIN) to a National Letter of Intent Nov. 16. The 6-foot-7 small forward from Senegal joins his fellow Lee Academy (Maine) teammate, freshman Youssou Ndoye. With long arms and good size, Toupane has the ability to shoot long range and drive towards the basket.

He's All Wright
Sophomore guard Matthew Wright was a key factor in the Bonnies' 79-58 win over Cornell. After the Big Red held him to two points in the first half, Wright went off in the second stanza, scoring 11 points to complement a career-best seven rebounds. The Toronto product also dished out five assists to just one turnover.

Up Up and Away
Andrew Nicholson continued his career-long assault on the Bonaventure record books during his double-double performance against Siena Nov. 21. Nicholson (now 641 rebounds) moved past David Vanterpool (630 rebounds) and Greg Sanders (637 rebounds) and is currently 18th on the all-time rebounding ledger.

Simmons Sees Early End
Redshirt junior Marquise Simmons suffered a torn Achilles in just his second minute of action Nov. 11 against Cornell, ending his 2011-12 season. Simmons suffered the injury while driving to the hoop and being fouled, but stayed in the game to hit both of his free throws before leaving.
 
Moving Up in the World
St. Bonaventure is picked to finish fourth in the league preseason poll, the highest since SBU was slotted second in the East division prior to the 2002-03 campaign. Last year, the Bonnies were picked second-to-last among 14 A-10 schools, but far exceeded expectations by finishing seventh, the biggest disparity between preseason prediction and postseason finish in the league.

Three-Headed Monster
Three seniors return for their final campaign in F Da'Quan Cook, G Mike Davenport and F Andrew Nicholson. Cook is in his fifth year at SBU and is the only remaining holdover from previous coach Anthony Solomon. Over their three years together, the duo have forged a 48-47 record and are already guaranteed to be the school's winningest class in 10 years.

Out With the Old
Four players from last year's roster have moved on: G Ogo Adegboye (graduation, now playing professionally in Cyprus); F Brett Roseboro (transferred to UMBC); G Sam de Haas (signed professional contract in Holland); and non-scholarship walk-on Jamil Goodwin (transferred to Independence CC in Kansas).

In With the New
Five new players joined the fold in the offseason: freshman G Jordan Gathers; freshman F/C Youssou Ndoye (YOU-sue EN-doy); sophomore G Charlon Kloof (SHAR-lon); junior F Chris Johnson; and junior G Eric Mosley. The quintuplet are expected to contribute immediately and provide great depth to the Bonnies' roster.

Can He Do It?
Nicholson ranks 13th on the Bona all-time scoring ledger (1,569 pts) and could become the school's all-time leading scorer (2,238 - Greg Sanders) if he averages 26.8 points over 25 remaining games. He led the A-10 and ranked as the nation's No. 3 returning scorer after averaging 20.8 in 2010-11.

Dangerous From Deep
Junior swingman Demitrius Conger made 40.4 percent of his 3-pointers last season (36-89), the eighth highest single-season percentage in school history. If sophomore sharpshooter Matthew Wright can maintain the pace he set to close out the year (25 for his final 61, 40.9 percent) the Bonnies could have a deadly duo from deep.

Davenport Nearing 1,000
Senior G Michael Davenport is just 281 points away from reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his career. He would become the 39th player in school history to reach the barrier if he averages 11.2 points over the 25 remaining games.

International Flavor
The Bonnies have five players who hail from places other than the United States. Senior F Andrew Nicholson and sophomore G Matthew Wright come from Mississauga and Toronto, Ontario, respectively. Sophomore G Charlon Kloof is a Paramaribo, Suriname native who relocated to the Netherlands at age four, while freshman F Youssou Ndoye hails from Dakar, Senegal. Junior F Chris Johnson - another Canadian - is from North Preston, Nova Scotia.

A Legend "Lives On"
Freshman G Jordan Gathers is the nephew of Loyola Marymount great Hank Gathers, one of only two players in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in both scoring and rebounding. Hank Gathers collapsed on the court during a West Coast Conference quarterfinal game on March 4, 1990 and subsequently died due to a heart condition. Jordan Gathers, whose Twitter handle is @44LivesOn, will wear No. 5 for the Brown and White.

Rolling in the Deep
After spending last year with just 10 scholarship players on the roster, the Bonnies are markedly deeper this season with five new additions and increased experience across the board. SBU used the same starting five in all 31 games last season, with four of those five players averaging at least 32 minutes per game.

Globe-Hopping
Sophomore transfer Charlon Kloof has had an interesting path to St. Bonaventure. The Paramaribo, Suriname native was born in South America, moved to Holland at age four and attended JUCO in North Carolina, all before a prep year at Canarias Basketball Academy in Spain's Canary Islands.