A-10 Notes
No. 4 seed St. Bonaventure (19-11) advances to the finals of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championship after defeating No. 8 Massachusetts (22-11), 84-80.
Notes about Sunday's game:
-St. Bonaventure is seeking its first-ever A-10 Tournament title and first NCAA berth since 2000.
-Demitrius Conger came up two assists shy of the first triple double in Bona history with 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight dimes in the semifinal win over UMass. It marked his eighth career double-double and four this season.
-Andrew Nicholson passed Tom Stith (2,052) for fourth place on the all-time scoring list (he now has 2,057) and will pass Bona legend and Naismith Hall of Famer Bob Lanier with 11 points in the Championship game.
-St. Bonaventure has not appeared in the final game of the Championship since 2000 (a 65-44 loss to Temple) and is making just its this finals appearance all-time. In its only other Championship appearance in 1984, the Bonnies lost to West Virginia 59-56.
-The Bonnies are 1-2 vs. Xavier in A-10 Tournament games and last met the Musketeers in the opening round of the 2004 bracket (XU won 90-64). SBU's only win against XU in the A-10 Tournament came by way of a 72-69 triumph in the quarterfinals of the 2000 Championship.
-In their only previous meeting with Xavier [recap], the Musketeers used a 14-4 run in the first half to lead by 13 at the break after SBU shout just 28 percent (7-25). Xavier mounted and 11-5 run in the second to go up by as many as 22. The Bonnies responded to score nine unanswered to inch closer. Nicholson posted 20 points and seven boards, while Mark Lyons tallied 21 and Tu Holloway 12. Kenny Frease was held scoreless.
-Overall, St. Bonaventure is winless against the Musketeers in its last 11 meetings. The last Bona win over Xavier came Feb. 9, 2002.
-No. 3 Xavier is coming off a 71-64 victory over No. 2 Saint Louis in the semifinals. The Musketeers are making their fifth finals and is 4-0 in title games.
-Head coaches Mark Schmidt and Chris Mack served as assistants together at Xavier University.
-SBU is seeking its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance (61, 68, 70, 78, 00) and is the smallest school to ever make the Final Four.
