St. Bonaventure Game Notes (PDF)

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The Starting Five Notes:

1.  St. Bonaventure and Canisius meet on the hardwood for the 164th time.  This will be the Bonnies' first trip to the Koessler Center since 2012; the teams met at Bona's Reilly Center each of the past two seasons.

2.  The game will pit a pair of teams who are fully capable of scoring at a high rate. The Bonnies come off a 92-point showing in their win over Loyola (Md.) and are averaging 74 points per game. Canisius is 23rd in the country in scoring at 90 points per game.

3.  Senior Marcus Posley had not scored in double figures the first two games of the year but he was at his best on Saturday against Loyola, scoring 26 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 10-10 at the free throw line. Fellow senior Dion Wright is off to a strong start to his final season in the Brown and White. After a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds against Loyola, Wright is averaging 18.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

4.  Junior point guard Jaylen Adams scored 16 points in each of the Bonnies' two games last week. He is averaging 14 points and 4.3 assists per game. Freshman point guard Nelson Kaputo has played like a veteran and is averaging 8.0 points and 3.7 assists per game.

5.  As it has since the start of the season, St. Bonaventure continues to play with just eight healthy scholarship players. Both Jordan Tyson and Courtney Stockard are out indefinitely due to injuries they sustained in the preseason.

The Series
This will be the 164th meeting between the schools; St. Bonaventure has played Canisius more times than any other rival. Over the 14 meetings since 2000, the long-time Little 3 rivals have played each other even since 2000, with each side winning seven times. The Bonnies have claimed three of the last four against the Griffs. St. Bonaventure has not fared well at the Koessler Center of late. The Bonnies' last win there was in 2002, and they lost their last four trips to the KC.

St. Bonaventure vs. Canisius: The Last Meeting
Nov. 22, 2014 at the Reilly Center:  In a defensive struggle, St. Bonaventure pulled away from the Griffs in the second half for the win. The Bonnies led by two points when Marcus Posley drained a critical three to extend the lead to 54-49 with 1:36 to play. Posley scored nine of his 20 points in the final 3:16 of the game. Dion Wright scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Jaylen Adams added 11 points and Youssou Ndoye was a major factor on the defensive end with 12 rebounds and four blocks.

St. Bonaventure's Last Game: Bonnies 94, Loyola 82  
Offense was on display Saturday night in the Reilly Center as St. Bonaventure topped Loyola (Md.) 94-82 to improve to 2-1. Clutch play from senior guard Marcus Posley, who had 26 points on the night, was key to the victory. Fellow senior Dion Wright also had a big game as he finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds. After opening up a 16-point lead at halftime, the Bonnies needed to fight off a rally. The Greyhounds cut the lead all the way down to six points midway through the second half at 67-61. St. Bonaventure converted when it was needed most, however. Free throws were another key to the Bonnies victory, as they converted 26 of 30 shots while (86.7%). Sophomore Jaylen Adams had 16 points, with two key three-pointers down the stretch to help seal the victory. Freshman point guard Nelson Kaputo scored 11 points and Denzel Gregg finished with nine.