TV: NBC Sports Network with Terry Gannon (pxp) and Ben Howland
Radio: WPIG 95.7 FM, ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Olean, NY) with Gary Nease (pxp) and Don Scholla
Twitter: @BonniesMBB
Atlantic 10 Tournament History
This season will be St. Bonaventure's 32nd appearance in the A-10 Tournament. The Bonnies have an all-time record of 18-29 in Tournament games with one championship, 2012. Last season at the Barclays Center, St. Bonaventure made it to the semifinals, defeating La Salle and No. 1 seed Saint Louis before falling to the eventual champion, Saint Joseph's.
St. Bonaventure vs. Saint Joseph's -- The Two Meetings This Season:
Feb. 21, 2015 at Hagan Arena: St. Bonaventure 70, Saint Joseph's 60 (OT)
St. Bonaventure pulled out an important win as the Bonnies snapped their three-game losing streak and evened their A-10 record at 7-7. After a Marcus Posley drive was stopped by the Hawks to end regulation, the Bonnies scored the first seven points of overtime to open a 59-52 lead. Saint Joseph's cut the deficit to 64-60 on a three-pointer by DeAndre' Bembry with 33 seconds left, but Youssou Ndoye pushed the lead up to six with two free throws. Dion Wright, who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, made four free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Posley finished with 16 points and five steals. Andell Cumberbatch played perhaps his best game of the season with 15 points and seven rebounds while handling the defensive assignment on Bembry.
Jan. 18, 2015 at Reilly Center: St. Bonaventure 70, Saint Joseph's 61
Marcus Posley scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half to lead St. Bonaventure to the win. The Bonnies trailed 29-28 at halftime but took their first lead of the game on a steal and dunk by senior center Youssou Ndoye that made it 37-35 with 15:21 remaining. The lead grew to 48-39 before the Hawks rallied to pull within 48-46. The game remained close the rest of the way, and a three-pointer by Isaiah Miles closed the Bonnies' lead to 55-54 with 5:35 left. St. Bonaventure answered, though, with a jumper by reserve Denzel Gregg followed by a Posley three-pointer to push the lead back to six points at 60-54 with 2:41 to play. The Bonnies went 8-8 at the free throw line down over the final 2:13 to secure the win. Ndoye finished with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Dion Wright scored 14 points and Andell Cumberbatch added nine for the Bonnies. St. Bonaventure had 18 assists on its 25 field goals and committed only seven turnovers.
Series Notes:
This will be the 70th meeting in a series that dates to 1958. The Hawks hold a 49-20 series lead, but the Bonnies have won six of the past 10 meetings including both games this season.
Saint Joseph's Notes:
The Hawks are a dramatically different team than the one which won last year's A-10 Championship. Saint Joseph's returned two starters from that team – sophomore swingman DeAndre' Bembry and senior point guard Chris Wilson. Bembry is the do-it-all leader for the Hawks. The first team all-conference selection leads the A-10 in scoring at 17.8 points per game and also averages 7.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game, all team highs. Bembry has 46 three-pointers and shoots 35 percent from long range.
• Wilson is second on the Hawks in assists with 84 and averages 8.3 points per game.
• Junior forward Isaiah Miles is the Hawks' second-leading scorer (10.5) and rebounder (5.2). He also is a capable three-point shooter at 35 percent for the season (50-143).
• Junior guard Aaron Brown averages 9.5 points per game and has shot more free throws (86-122) than any other Hawk except Bembry.
St. Bonaventure's Last Game: Bonnies 66, Fordham 52
Led by seniors Youssou Ndoye and Andell Cumberbatch, St. Bonaventure defeated Fordham 66-52 on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies completed the regular season 17-12 overall and 10-8 in the Atlantic 10.
• It took a second-half rally for the Bonnies to earn their third straight win. St. Bonaventure found itself down 28-23 at halftime. But the Bonnies surged into the lead with a decisive 24-4 run over a nine-minute stretch in the second half, during which Fordham did not make a single field goal. The Rams turned the ball over six times and shot 28.6% (8-28) in the second half.
• St. Bonaventure did most of its damage close to the basket. In his final game at the Reilly Center, Ndoye recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He also rejected four Fordham shots. Marcus Posley finished with a team-high 18 points, Cumberbatch had 10 points and seven rebounds while playing the defensive stopper role, and Dion Wright scored 12 points with eight rebounds.
Ndoye Milestone Watch; Climbing Single Season Rebound List
• Ndoye, whose 286 rebounds this season ranks 10th on St. Bonaventure's single-season rebounding list, needs 14 boards to become the eighth player in school history to grab 300 rebounds in a season.
• Ndoye needs 11 rebounds to reach 700 for his career. Only 10 players have reached that plateau in the program's history. Ndoye ranks second in the A-10 in both rebounding (10.2) and blocked shots (2.6 per game). He ranks 14th in Division I in rebounding and 25th in blocked shots.
• Ndoye needs 51 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
• Ndoye has also blocked at least one shot in every game but two (LaSalle/GW) this season with 16 games of three or more rejections.
• He has 11 double-doubles this year, seven more than he had last season.
• Ndoye is only the fourth player in school history to record 500 rebounds (689) and at least 150 blocks (204).
Ten Atlantic 10 Wins
St. Bonaventure's 10 Atlantic 10 Conference wins this season tied for the second-most ever in the 36 years the Bonnies have been members of the A-10. A look at the top A-10 win totals in a season in the program's history:
Wins Season W-L (Pct.)
11 1999-00 11-5 (.687)
10 2014-15 10-8 (.555)
2011-12 10-6 (.625)
1985-86 10-8 (.555)
1982-83 10-4 (.714)
9 2000-01 9-7 (.562)
1994-95 9-7 (.562)
Cumberbatch Playing With Renewed Confidence
Since the injury to point guard Jay Adams, senior swingman Andell Cumberbatch has answered the Bonnies' call for more production and leadership. The former standout at Barton (Kansas) C.C. has played some of his best basketball over the past month. Over the last six games, in addition to guarding the opponent's top player, Cumberbatch averaged 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and made 16 of his 34 three-point attempts (45 percent) over the last five games. Prior to scoring 12 points against UMass on Feb. 11, Cumberbatch had not reached double figures in the previous six games. He has now scored in double figures seven of the past eight games. The East Orange, N.J., native scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the OT win at Saint Joseph's Feb. 21. He scored 18 points in the Feb. 28 win over Duquesne.
Dion Wright Backing Up Sports Illustrated's Breakout Projection
Following a sophomore season that could easily been described as a breakout, St. Bonaventure junior Dion Wright was named to Sport Illustrated's list of the "Projected Breakout Players" for this year. Wright has certainly proven SI correct. Notes on Wright's season, which has been marked by consistency and improvement:
• Wright has scored in double figures 24 times including 13 of the last 14 games.
• He is in the top 15 in the Atlantic 10 in six different stats categories: 13th in scoring at 13.1 points per game; 11th in rebounding (6.9), ninth in field goal percentage (.552), 10th in free throw percentage (.775), sixth in offensive rebounds (3.1 per game) and fifth in minutes per game (34.7 per game).
Record For Road Wins
With its win at Saint Louis March 4, St. Bonaventure finished 8-7 on the road this season (3-2 in the non-conference and 5-4 in Atlantic 10 games), which is a new school record for road wins. The prior record of seven was set by three teams: the 2008-09, 2001-02 and 1994-95 Bonnies clubs.
Posley's Scoring Success
Replacing 1,000-point scorer Matthew Wright '14, who averaged 16 points per game as a senior, was not what anyone expected of Marcus Posley. The junior guard, who spent a year at Ball State and then transferred to Indian Hills (Iowa) junior college for the 2013-14 season, entered the year somewhat under the radar. But Posley has flourished at St. Bonaventure, where he has become one of the top scorers in the Atlantic 10.
Notes on his season:
• Posley ranks sixth in the A-10 in scoring at 16.5 points per game.
• He has ten 20-point games this season, the third-most of any A-10 player, most recently 29 in the Feb. 28 win over Duquesne.
• In that win over Duquesne, he went 6-9 from three-point range, ending a slump during which he was 4-40 over five games.
• Posley is tied for fourth in the A-10 in three-point field goals per game (2.5).
• He has scored in double figures in 24 of 29 games.
• Posley had one of the best shooting nights ever by a St. Bonaventure player at Duquesne Jan. 22. He scored 36 points, the most by anyone in an A-10 game this season, including an incredible 12 over the final 2:35 when he led the Bonnies back from an 11-point deficit.
• In St. Bonaventure wins, Posley averaged 18.4 points and shot 40.6 percent from three-point range; in losses, he averaged 13.8 points per game and shot 20 percent from long range.
Gregg Coming On Strong
An athletic big man who can play either forward spot, 6-7 sophomore Denzel Gregg has played better and better over the last month. He earned starts in each of the past three games, but whether he's starting or coming off the bench, the Syracuse, N.Y., native has provided a spark on both ends of the floor. Gregg was at his best in the win over VCU when he scored a career high 10 points and blocked three shots in 17 minutes. For the season, 20 of his 21 blocks for the year have been against A-10 opponents. Gregg, who sat out the first six games of the season under a team suspension, is averaging 3.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game. Last season, Gregg played in 26 games and averaged 2.0 points.
Getting The Most
Mark Schmidt has proven he is a coach who gets the most out of his teams. Despite being chosen to finish near or at the bottom of the Atlantic 10 virtually every season (other than 2011-12), the Bonnies routinely exceed expectations. This season, the Bonnies were picked to finish 10th in the preseason poll and finished seventh. Last year, the Bonnies were chosen to finish 12th and they ended up ninth and made it to the A-10 Championship semifinals for the second time in three years.
