St. Bonaventure Game Notes (PDF)

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Atlantic 10 Standings

The Starting Five Notes + One
1.  Winners of five straight, St. Bonaventure makes its second trip to Philadelphia in three weeks to face La Salle in the only regular season meeting of the teams. The Bonnies come of a win over George Washington that helped them move up to 34th in the latest RPI rankings.
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 third). The three combine to average 52.9 points per game. They all rank in the top 15 scorers in the Atlantic 10 with Posley (18.9) fourth, Adams (18.2) sixth and Wright (16.1) 15th.
3.  As of Feb. 16, St. Bonaventure is ranked 34 in the Ratings Percentage Index list on NCAA.com. The Bonnies are 2-2 against top 50 teams and 4-5 against the top 100.
4.  With little fanfare, Dion Wright continues to be one of the most effective and productive players in the A-10. He leads all A-10 players with 11 double-doubles and is the second-leading  rebounder (9.1) and 15th-leading scorer (16.1) in the conference. His 12th double-double will be the most of any player during Mark Schmidt's nine seasons as coach.
5.  Adams continues to make a case for himself to be included in discussions of the most improved players in the A-10. His three-point shooting percentage has improved from .324 last year to an A-10 leading .460 this season, contributing to his 8.2 points-per game jump in scoring. A two-time A-10 Player of the Week, Adams is also second in the A-10 in assists.
6.  St. Bonaventure is off to its best start to A-10 play in 33 years. The 1982-83 Bonnies opened with 10 wins in their first 13 games and finished 10-4. The program record for A-10 wins in a season is 11 set in 1999-00.

Series History
This will be the 30th meeting in a series that La Salle leads 16-13. The teams split the last four meetings.

St. Bonaventure vs. LaSalle: The Last Meeting
Jan. 31, 2015 at the Reilly Center: LaSalle 66, St. Bonaventure 56
Jordan Price scored 24 points and Cleon Roberts had 20 to lead the Explorers to a win in the Reilly Center. The Bonnies went 9-30 (30 percent) from the field in the second half and shot just 34 percent overall for the game, while La Salle was 11-19 (58 percent) from the field in the second half.

La Salle Quick Notes
•  La Salle has lost its last 10 games, including nine to A-10 opponents. Its lone A-10 win came at home on Jan. 9 over Dayton, 61-57.
•  Jordan Price, a junior swingman, is the third-leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 at 19.0 points per game. He also leads La Salle in three-pointers (65/,380), free throws and assists.
• Cleon Roberts, a 6-6 guard, averages 12.6 points per game with a team-high 45 steals. Roberts and Johnnie Shuler are both capable three-point shooters with 45 and 48 three-pointers, respectively.
• Redshirt sophomore center Tony Washington leads La Salle in rebounding at 7.2 per game. He has blocked 34 shots on the year. 

Great Start to A-10
At 9-3, St. Bonaventure is off to its best start to Atlantic 10 play since the 1982-83 team opened with 10 wins in its first 13 conference games. The program record for A-10 wins in a season is 11 in 1999-00. 

Wright Piles Up Double-Doubles
Dion Wright now has 11 double-doubles this season, the most by an Atlantic 10 player this season and tied for the most by any player during Mark Schmidt's nine seasons as Bonnies coach. Seven of Wright's double-doubles have been against A-10 teams. 

National Leader In Free Throws
Traditionally a strength of Mark Schmidt's teams, St. Bonaventure has taken its free throw shooting to a new level this season. As of Feb. 12, the Bonnies lead the nation in free throw percentage at 78.3 percent. Guards Jaylen Adams and Marcus Posley both shoot better than 83 percent at the line and are in the top five in the A-10 in free throw percentage. At .883, Adams ranks second in the A-10 and 13th nationally.

Posley's Scoring Overshadows His All-Around Game
A preseason All-Conference selection, senior guard Marcus Posley continues to show how how valuable he is to this 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 13 games this season of 17 points or more including four 30-point games. He ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 18.9 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 (30), is second in assists (85) and, despite standing just 6-feet, is fourth in rebounding (3.6).
• Durability: He is sixth among A-10 players in minutes played (36.9 per game). Also, he has gotten to the free throw line 111 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); he also set up Jaylen Adams' game winning shot Feb. 7 against Saint Louis with a perfect assist.

Adams Playing At All-Conference Level
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. Midway through the A-10 season, he has played at an All-Conference level.
• Adams has been named the A-10 Player of the Week twice this season, most recently for the week ending Feb. 7. That week, the Baltimore, Md., native averaged 25 points per game to lead the Bonnies to wins at Saint Joseph's and over Saint Louis. Adams scored a career high 31 points with seven assists at Saint Joseph's, then followed that with 19 points and four assists against the Billikens. He made the game-winning three-pointer as time expired in the 65-62 decision over Saint Louis. His first POW selection was for the week of Dec. 28.
• For the season, Adams leads the A-10 in three-point percentage (.460) and ranks sixth in scoring (18.2), second in assists (5.0 per game), fourth in three-pointers per game (2.9) and second in free throw percentage (.883). Adams' .460 three-point percentage ranks 10th nationally.