St. Bonaventure Game Notes (PDF)

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The Starting Five Notes:

1.  St. Bonaventure hosts an under-the-radar Hofstra team on Saturday afternoon.  The Bonnies come off a win at archrival Canisius on Tuesday.  The Pride, who are coached by longtime Niagara mentor Joe Mihalich, played in the Paradise Jam last weekend in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they beat Florida State. Led by high-scoring guard Juan'ya Green (19 points per game), Hofstra was the preseason pick to win the Colonial Athletic Association.

2.  Senior guard Marcus Posley averaged 30.5 points over the last two games – 35 at Canisius (one shy of his career high) and 26 against Loyola. Over the two wins, Posley was 18-32 from the field and 19-19 at the free throw line. He increased his scoring average to 18.8 for the season.

3.  Fellow senior Dion Wright is also off to a strong start to his final season in the Brown and White. After back-to-back double-doubles of 13 points and 11 rebounds at Canisius and 22 points and 12 rebounds against Loyola, Wright is averaging 17.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.

4.  While most of the attention from media and fans is on the Bonnies' backcourt, the frontcourt has certainly held its own so far. In addition to Wright's strong play, junior Denzel Gregg has played well, averaging 10.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in his sixth man role, while freshman Derrick Woods has been impressive for a young player, averaging 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds and starting all four games to date.

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 only the fourth meeting between the schools and the first since 1992. The Bonnies claimed all three of the prior meetings. This is the first game of a home-and-home series, scheduled to continue next season on Long Island.

St. Bonaventure's Last Game: Bonnies 77, Canisius 73
Marcus Posley was nothing short of brilliant on Tuesday. The senior guard scored 35 points to lead St. Bonaventure to a 77-73 win over Canisius at the Koessler Center.
While the Bonnies led for the majority of the second half, Canisius tied the game at 69 with 1:44 left. The Bonnies responded, though. Posley's two free throws put the Bonnies ahead 71-69. Canisius had a chance to tie, but missed two free throws with 34 seconds left. Dion Wright was fouled and made two free throws with 32 seconds to go that essentially sealed the win. St. Bonaventure went 4-4 at the free throw line over the last 24 seconds.
The win was the first for St. Bonaventure at the Koessler Center since 2002, a span of four losses.
Wright scored all 13 of his points in the second half after foul trouble limited the senior forward in the first half. He also snagged 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. The Bonnies also six points and six assists from sophomore Jaylen Adams and nine points from freshman forward Derrick Woods.

After Slow Start, Posley Puts Petal Down
The seasons's first two games were uncharacteristically quiet for senior guard Marcus Posley. A preseason All-Conference selection after he averaged 16.7 points per game last season, Posley scored only five points in the season opener and nine at Syracuse. He was 5-26 from the field over those two games (4-18 from three-point range) and did not attempt a free throw. Since the start of the Loyola game, however, Posley has looked more like himself. He scored 26 points against Loyola, then dominated at Canisius, scoring 35 points, which was one shy of his career high. Over the two wins, Posley was 18-32 from the field and 19-19 at the free throw line. He increased his scoring average to 18.8 for the season.