Game Preview: Richmond Spiders
Date: Sunday, January 31
Time: 3:00
Location: Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center
The Records:
St. Bonaventure 12-6 (4-3) | Richmond 12-8 (3-4)
Bonnies Statistics | Richmond Statistics
St. Bonaventure Game Notes (PDF)
TV: American Sports Network with Ed Cohen and Tom Pecora
Channel Listings in western New York: SNY (ch. 25 or 320 on TW Cable); Direct TV (ch. 639)
Complete list of all ASN affiliate channels for this game
Radio: WPIG 95.7 FM, ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Olean, NY) with Gary Nease (pxp) and Don Scholla
Twitter: @BonniesMBB
Ticket Promotions: Sunday is a doubleheader with both teams facing Richmond. The women will host the Spiders at 12:30 on WGWE Day. The men's game will be presented by Dunn Tire. One ticket is good for both games including a buy-one, get-one free ticket special in the Dunn Tire Family Section. Tickets start at just $8 and kids tickets are just $5 with a paying adult.
The Starting Five Notes
1. After its one bye in the Atlantic 10 schedule, St. Bonaventure returns to action to host Richmond. The Bonnies hope to put an end to a three-game losing skid, while the Spiders come off a double overtime win at George Washington on Thursday. This game pits the No. 2 (St. Bonaventure at 82.0) and No. 3 (81.6) scoring offenses in Atlantic 10 games.
2. The "big three" of senior forward Dion Wright, senior guard Marcus Posley and sophomore guard Jaylen Adams is the second-highest scoring trio in the A-10 (Davidson is first, and Richmond is a close third). The three combine to average 52.8 points per game. They all rank in the top 16 scorers in the Atlantic 10 with Posley (19.1) fifth, Adams (17.8) eighth and Wright (15.9) 15th.
3. Posley continues to prove he is an elite-level scorer, with 31 and 30 points in the Bonnies' last two games. He now has 861 points over his 49 career games at St. Bonaventure.
4. With little fanfare, Wright continues to be one of the most effective and productive players in the A-10. He leads all A-10 players with eight double-doubles and is the second-leading rebounder (8.9) and 15th-leading scorer (15.9) in the conference. He recently became just the 24th player in the program's history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career.
5. While he was very good as a freshman, Adams has made a significant improvement this season. His three-point shooting percentage has improved from .324 to .442, contributing to his 7.8 points-per game jump in scoring. He is one of only three Division I players who are averaging better than 17 points and 4.0 assists per game while shooting better than 41 percent from three-point range (Yogi Ferrell of Indiana and David Walker of Northeastern are the others).
St. Bonaventure vs. Richmond: The Last Meeting
Feb. 18, 2015 at Reilly Center: Richmond 71, St. Bonaventure 56
St. Bonaventure could not overcome 19 turnovers and a decisive second half run as it fell to Richmond for the second time. The Bonnies erased a 32-23 halftime deficit, outscoring the Spiders 19-6 through the first 9:30 of the second half to take a 42-38 lead. Richmond, however, then scored 14 unanswered points to regain control at 52-42 with 7:22 left in the game. The Bonnies could not cut the deficit to less than seven points the rest of the way.
Three Bonnies scored in double figures. Youssou Ndoye led the way with a team-best 12 points while Andell Cumberbatch and Dion Wright chipped in 10 points each. Ndoye also grabbed 10 rebounds for his ninth double-double this season. Marcus Posley and Iakeem Alston finished with nine points apiece.
Series History: This will be the 22nd meeting in a series that Richmond leads 16-5. The Spiders have won four of the last six meetings including both games last season. The first meeting in the series was in 2002.
Posley's All-Around Game
A preseason All-Conference selection after he averaged 16.7 points per game last season, senior guard Marcus Posley continues to show how how valuable he is to this Bonnies team. While he is deservedly well-known for his scoring, Posley brings leadership on and off the court. Some of the Rockford, Ill. native's highlights:
• Scoring: he has 11 games this season of 17 points or more including four 30-point games. He ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game.
• More scoring: Posley is on pace for 536 points this season, assuming he plays in all of the remaining regular season A-10 games. That would give him back-to-back 500-point seasons and make him only the fifth St. Bonaventure player ever to score 1,000 points in his first two seasons. The others: Bob Lanier, Tom Stith, Fred Crawford and Glenn Price.
• Complete game: Posley leads the Bonnies in steals (24), is second in assists (60) and, despite standing just 6-feet, is fourth in rebounding (3.6).
• Durability: He is fifth among A-10 players in minutes played (36.7 per game). Also, he has gotten to the free throw line 89 times - second-most on the team to Jay Adams.
• Clutch: Posley has one game winner this season (Buffalo) after two buzzer-beaters last season (VCU and Davidson).
Second Nationally In Free Throw Shooting
Traditionally a strength of Mark Schmidt's teams, St. Bonaventure has taken its free throw shooting to a new level this season. As of Jan. 29, the Bonnies rank second in the nation in free throw percentage at 77.6 percent. Guards Jaylen Adams and Marcus Posley both shoot better than 85 percent at the line and are in the top seven in the A-10 in free throw percentage.
Spurtability
St. Bonaventure has shown the ability to score in bunches, evidenced most clearly by its 61 points in the second half Jan. 19 against Dayton. That was the fifth time this season the Bonnies have scored 50 or more points in a half. The others: 54 against Davidson (2nd half), 51 against Duquesne (2nd) and 50 against Loyola (1st).
Taking Care of The Rock
Led by veteran guards Jaylen Adams and Marcus Posley and bolstered by freshman guard Nelson Kaputo, the Bonnies have a team assist-to-turnover ratio of +1.2, which ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10. Adams and Posley both rank among the top 13 players in the A-10 in this category.
Adams Stays Hot At the Point
Last season, a broken finger ended point guard Jaylen Adams' superb freshman season prematurely. Last winter, his injury likely kept the A-10's coaches from putting Adams on the All-Rookie team – a spot that seemed a sure thing considering he was averaging 10 points and 4.5 assists per game and led all A-10 players in assist-to-turnover ratio at the time. So far this season, he has played at an All-Conference level.
• Adams is fourth in the A-10 in three-point percentage (.442) and ranks ninth in scoring (17.8), third in assists (4.9 per game), seventh in three-pointers per game (2.7) and third in free throw percentage (.865).
• The Baltimore, Md., native was named the A-10 Player of the Week after he averaged 23.0 points, 8.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds over the Bonnies' wins over Niagara (Dec. 30) and Davidson (Jan. 2). In the Bonnies' 97-85 win over Davidson, Adams scored a career high 30 points. He scored 16 points and handed out 12 assists – the most assists by an A-10 player this season – in an 82-68 win over Niagara Dec. 30.
• Over his last 11 games, Adams made 37 of 75 three-point shots (.493) and averaged 20.3 points per game.
