St. Bonaventure Game Notes (PDF)

TV: Time Warner SportsChannel with Brendan McDaniels (pxp) and Richard Walsh
Radio: WPIG 95.7 FM, ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Olean, NY) with Gary Nease (pxp) and Don Scholla
Free Video Streaming: GoBonnies.com (Note: Time Warner policy does not allow the game to be streamed in New York State)
Twitter: @BonniesMBB 
Ticket Promotion: Toys For Tots $8 tickets (see note 5 below)

The Starting Five Notes:
1.  St. Bonaventure hosts another high-scoring team, the Ohio Bobcats, as the Bonnies open a three-game home stand. The teams have identical 4-2 records. St. Bonaventure has won three of its last four.

2.  Seniors Dion Wright and Marcus Posley continue to lead this team and are both off to strong starts to their final season in the Brown and White. Wright is 11th in the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 17.7 points per game and second in rebounding (8.8). He scored a career high 26 points in St. Bonaventure's win at Buffalo on Wednesday. Posley stands seventh in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (18.3) and has two 20+ point games and a 35-point game. He also made the game-winning jump shot at Buffalo.

3.  While most of the attention is on the Bonnies' backcourt, the frontcourt has held its own so far.  In addition to Wright's strong play, junior Denzel Gregg has played well, averaging 9.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and almost two blocks in his sixth man role, while freshman Derrick Woods has been impressive for a young player, averaging 5.3 points and 3.2 rebounds and starting every game.

4.  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.

5.  St. Bonaventure's baseball team will host a Toys For Tots Drive during Saturday's doubleheader. Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to the Reilly Center will receive a game ticket for just $8; all fans are asked to support this very worthy cause. 

St. Bonaventure's Last Game: Bonnies 60, Buffalo 58
Marcus Posley has made last-second game winners before. Wednesday at Alumni Arena, he did it again, lifting St. Bonaventure to a 60-58 win over Buffalo with a jumper with eight seconds left.  Posley's clutch shot ended a dry spell during which Bonnies didn't score a point from Dion Wright's layup at the 6:15 mark until the game-winner.  Wright was the star of the game, setting a career high with 26 points. St. Bonaventure built its largest lead of the night at 56-47 with 7:46 remaining before its offense went cold. The Bonnies went just 2-21 from three-point range for the game. Defense offset the poor shooting, however, as Bona held Buffalo to 38 percent shooting in the second half and forced 21 UB turnovers in the game. 

Scouting The Bobcats:
Ohio is a team on the rise under second-year coach Saul Phillips. The Bobcats have beaten Florida Gulf Coast, Tennessee State, Norfolk State and Marshall, and their losses came to Tulsa and Florida State. Yet another high-scoring opponent for the Bonnies, Ohio averages 84 points per game. They have significant depth with a rotation of 10 players. Point guard Jaaron Simmons, a transfer from Houston, leads Ohio at 17.3 points and 7.3 assists per game. Other top scorers are Kenny Kaminski (14.7), Antonio Campbell (11.2) and Jordan Dartis (11.0).

Series Notes:
This will be the 12th meeting between the schools.   St. Bonaventure holds a 7-4 edge in the series, although Ohio has won four of the last six meetings. 

St. Bonaventure vs. Ohio: The Last Meeting
Dec. 6, 2014 in Athens, Ohio
Jaylen Adams scored 26 points and Marcus Posley added 20 to lead St. Bonaventure to an 80-70 win over the Bobcats. St. Bonaventure trailed 37-36 at halftime but tightened its defense in the second half.  Posley's three-pointer with 7:22 left capped an 11-5 run that put the Bonnies ahead 64-53. St. Bonaventure went on to lead by as many as 15 points. The Bonnies made 16 of 18 free throws in the second half and 22-28 for the game. Youssou Ndoye added eight points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for the Bonnies. Andell Cumberbatch, with 11 points, and Dion Wright, with 10, also reached double figures. 

Unorthodox and Undervalued
If you described Dion Wright as undervalued and overlooked – three years ago as a high school senior or even today -- you would be completely accurate.
• With no other Division I scholarship offers, he landed at St. Bonaventure thanks to a connection between Mark Schmidt and a Xavier alum who had seen Wright play.
• Wright played in only 13 games his freshman year and scored just 36 points.
• He made a huge improvement his sophomore season, playing in all 33 games and averaging 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.
• At the start of 2014-15, Sport Illustrated listed Wright among its "Projected Breakout Players" for the year. He certainly proved SI correct, becoming one of the better all-around players in the Atlantic 10. He ranked in the top 15 in the Atlantic 10 in six different statistical categories: 11th in scoring at 13.5 points per game; 12th in rebounding (7.0), eighth in field goal percentage (.542), 12th in free throw percentage (.774), seventh in offensive rebounds (2.9 per game) and fourth in minutes per game (35.1 per game). Wright scored in double figures 26 times and recorded five double-doubles.
• Wright has started out his senior season extremely well. With more pressure and without the luxury of playing alongside 2015 graduate Youssou Ndoye, Wright is averaging 17.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game with three double-doubles. He scored a career high 26 points to lead the Bonnies to a 60-58 win at Buffalo Dec. 2. Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt calls Wright's offensive game "unorthodox" – which we are certain suits Wright just fine. He also is 152 points away from 1,000 for his carer.

No. 1 Nationally in Free Throw Shooting
Traditionally a strength of Mark Schmidt's teams, this year's team has picked up right where last year's left off when in comes to shooting free throws. The Bonnies finished second in the Atlantic 10 last season at .706. After going 8-9 at Buffalo, St. Bonaventure has made 84.4 percent of its free throws as a team (103-122), which is No. 1 nationally among all NCAA Division I teams. Fellow A-10 member La Salle is second at 82 percent. Marcus Posley is tied for fifth nationally at .962 (25-26); he started out the season making his first 25 free throws before missing one in the closing minute of the Hofstra game. Point guard Jaylen Adams is 25-28 (.893), Denzel Gregg is 16-20 (.800) and Dion Wright is 18-23 (.783). 

Posley Puts Slow Start in Rear View
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, and scored 22 against Hofstra. Posley scored 13 points at Buffalo thanks to a tough shooting night but he did make the game-winning jumper with eight seconds left. He is now averaging 18.3 points per game, which ranks seventh in the Atlantic 10. He also leads the A-10 in free throw shooting at .962.