Opening Tip
St. Bonaventure hosts Fordham in its regular-season finale with everything on the line Saturday afternoon. If the Bonnies win, they clinch a spot in the 12-team Atlantic 10 Championship. With a loss, Bona needs either a Charlotte loss (at home vs. Saint Joseph's)
OR a George Washington loss (at home vs. Dayton) to qualify for the tournament. Bonaventure will honor its four seniors – Chris Johnson, Eric Mosley, Michael Davenport and Demitrius Conger – and one senior manager, Michael Gargin, prior to the game
(more information below).
Though highly unlikely, there still is a chance for
six A-10 teams to finish the year at 8-8, triggering a series of tiebreakers among St. Bonaventure, Massachusetts, Saint Joseph's, Charlotte, Dayton and Richmond. If that did occur, all six teams would be in the conference tournament, but tiebreakers would determine seeds 7-12.
Last Time Out
Dayton started the second half on a 12-2 run to open up a 15-point lead, and St. Bonaventure couldn't get any closer than six the rest of the night, spoiling a game-high 22 points from senior Demitrius Conger in his final regular-season road game. Eric Mosley was the lone other Bona player to reach double-figure scoring as he tallied 13, but the nation's 13th-best 3-point shooter (44.3 percent) struggled from deep, going just 3-10 and scoring 10 of his points in the second half. Redshirt junior Marquise Simmons chipped in with nine points – his best scoring output since he matched it at Butler on Feb. 6.
Déjà Vu In Full Effect
One year after making a late-season push to win its first Atlantic 10 Championship, St. Bonaventure is on its way to duplicating that success this year. The Bonnies won four of their last five games at the end of last year to earn a bye in the tournament and then parlayed that finish into a conference title. Bonaventure would duplicate that 4-1 finish with a victory over Fordham today.
Additionally, last year NBA First Round Draft Pick Andrew Nicholson averaged 27.6 points per game over those final five regular-season games. This year, Eric Mosley is doing his best Nicholson impersonation as the guard is putting Bonaventure on his back, averaging 24.2 points over the last five games.
Scouting Fordham
^ The Bonnies won both matchups last year against Fordham by 70 combined points – 95-51 in the Reilly Center and 89-63 at Rose Hill Gym.
^ The second meeting of the year last season was delayed for nearly an hour in the first half due to a broken rim.
^ The Bonnies have won six in a row over the Rams, and with a win Saturday would tie a series record by winning their seventh consecutive.
^ The Fordham Rams enter the game with a 6-24 record, 2-13 in the Atlantic 10, after a 75-55 conference loss against Temple University on Wednesday night.
^ Junior guard Branden Frazier leads the Rams in scoring and assists, and earlier this year became the 35th player in Fordham history to score 1000 career points.
^ Frazier is averaging 14.1 points per game, 14th best in Atlantic 10, and 5.0 assists per game, third in the conference.
^ Senior forward Chris Gaston is third in Fordham history with 1,029 rebounds, and third all time with 1,630 points.
^ Fordham leads the conference with 37.7 rebounds per game.
^ The Rams rank in the bottom three in the Atlantic-10 in points per game (64.0), field goal percentage (.397), three-point percentage (.311) and steals per game (4.9).
Davenport To Set Record
If Michael Davenport makes his scheduled start against Fordham, the redshirt senior will become the program's all-time leader in games played with his 127th. The Cincinnati native will surpass David Messiah-Capers' record of 126, set from 1995-2000. 2012 graduate Andrew Nicholson is third on the list with 123 games played – the only four-year player in school history with 120 or more career games played.
A Historic Resurrection
With a win Saturday, St. Bonaventure will finish the Atlantic 10 season with an 8-8 record and conclude its third straight season of .500 or better play in conference action for just the second time in program history. The Bonnies went 8-8 in 2010-11 and 10-6 last year. The other run – which was a four-year stretch from 1998-2002 – started with an 8-8 record in 1998-99, 11-5 in 1999-2000, 9-7 in 2000-01 and 8-8 again in 2001-02.
Quick Hitters
# Chris Johnson scored just six points at Dayton on Wednesday, his second-lowest point total of the year (two vs. Cleveland State).
# Charlon Kloof went scoreless for the second time in the last three games at Dayton; Kloof has scored just eight points over the last five games.
# The Bonnies trailed 32-27 at the half against Dayton Wednesday and are now 2-13 when losing after 20 minutes of play this year.
# Dayton shot 53 percent from the floor against SBU, and Bonaventure is now 0-7 on the year when allowing an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better.
# Demitrius Conger enters Saturday's game just 14 points shy of cracking the top-25 on the program's all-time scoring list.
# Jordan Gathers passed out a team-high four assists at Dayton on Wednesday, marking the fifth time he's led the club in assists in a game this year and seventh time in his career.
Next Up
Depending on the rest of the results in the Atlantic 10 on Saturday, the Bonnies should know their potential A-10 Championship matchup by the end of the day. However, the possibility exists that Sunday's VCU at Temple game could have an impact on both the 5th and 6th seeds, thus impacting SBU's potential Opening-Round game.
Seniors
Demitrius Conger
Conger has carved out one of the most well-rounded careers in program history, as this season he became only the third St. Bonaventure player to register 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 200 assists (the others are David Vanterpool '95 and Ahmad Smith '06). The Brooklyn, N.Y., native has started every game since the start of his sophomore year and has averaged double figures in scoring in each of the past three seasons. Conger's senior year has been his best. He is in the running for All-Atlantic 10 honors, ranking 13th in the conference in scoring (14.2), eighth in rebounding (7.1), fifth in free-throw percentage (86.7) and first in minutes played per game (36.3). Additionally, Conger is only player in the A-10 who leads his team in scoring, rebounding and assists. As a junior, the 6-foot-6 forward was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Championship team after helping lead the Bonnies to their first ever conference title and first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2000. Conger posted 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in SBU's A-10 semifinal win over UMass. He also helped guide the Bonnies to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2010-11 – the program's first postseason tournament appearance and winning season since 2001-02.
Michael Davenport
Davenport, a fifth-year senior, has been a key player in St. Bonaventure's rise in the Atlantic 10 under coach Mark Schmidt. Since Davenport's arrival on campus in 2008, the Bonnies have won at least 15 games in every season and advanced the NCAA Tournament in 2012 and College Basketball Invitational (CBI) in 2011. The Cincinnati, Ohio native's best season came as a junior in 2011, when he started all 31 games, averaged 11.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and led SBU in steals and assists. Davenport, who was granted an extra year of eligibility after missing all but eight games last season with a shoulder injury, will pass David Messiah-Capers for most games played by a St. Bonaventure player with 127 when he appears in today's contest. Among Davenport's most memorable moments was his last-second 3-pointer to beat A-10 unbeaten (8-0) Duquesne in 2011 and a steal in the closing seconds against Niagara that secured the Bonnies' victory over the Purple Eagles earlier this season. He also tallied career highs in points (28) and rebounds (11) in a loss to Rhode Island during his junior campaign. With over 800 career points, Davenport will leave as one of the top 60 scorers in program history.
Eric Mosley
Mosley has produced many of his best games during the stretch run of his senior year, having averaged 22.4 points over the last seven contests. His career-high 39 points against UMass is tied for the most points by an Atlantic 10 player in a game this year. Additionally, no SBU player has scored more points in a regulation 40-minute game since Greg Sanders tallied 46 against Detroit in 1977. The junior college transfer also posted 30 points in an overtime loss at Richmond and 23 in a victory over Charlotte. For his efforts, Mosley's scoring average has increased by more than three points to 13.1 over the last 10 games. The Louisville, Ky. native, has also steadily climbed SBU's single-season lists for 3-pointers (77) and 3-point percentage (44.3), currently ranking sixth and and second in those categories, respectively. Mosley ranks second the A-10 in 3-point percentage and is ninth in free-throw percentage (82.6). During his first year on campus, Mosley averaged 6.6 points per game and came off the bench to help lead the Bonnies to the 2012 Atlantic 10 title and berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Chris Johnson
After starting one game as a junior, Johnson has started all but two games this season and has been one of St. Bonaventure's most consistent performers. The junior college transfer ranks third on the team and among the top 20 in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (12.7) and has also been among the league's best in 3-point and free-throw percentage at different points this season. Johnson posted a career-best 22 points and equaled his career high with seven rebounds in a February victory over Massachusetts. He has also collected other numerous career bests this season and has led the Bonnies in scoring in seven games. In his first year on campus, Johnson was a key contributor off the bench in SBU's run to the Atlantic 10 title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2012, notching 14 points in the team's A-10 semifinal victory over UMass. He also scored in double figures in wins over Duquesne, Richmond, George Washington, Niagara, St. Francis (Pa.) and Canisius. The Nova Scotia native connected on 87.7 percent of his free throws (57-65) as junior, good for fifth all-time in a single season for a St. Bonaventure player.
Michael Gargin
Gargin has worked with the team the last four years and ascended to head manager this season. The native of Newton, N.J. has assisted in the supervision of the managerial staff, as well as practice and game set up and day-to-day operations of the program. A marketing major, Gargin hopes to pursue to career in coaching. He is accompanied by his parents, Frank and Alice Gargin.
