ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men's basketball team continues to rise in the national polls as the Bonnies jumped to No. 16 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 released Monday afternoon.

St. Bonaventure (5-0) is the biggest mover of the week after an impressive run at the Charleston Classic that saw the Bonnies capture the tournament championship following victories over Boise State, Clemson and Marquette.

In Thursday's Charleston Classic opener, St. Bonaventure held off Mountain West foe Boise State, 67-61, before rallying from a 14-point second half deficit to get past ACC member Clemson, 68-65, in the semifinals. The Bonnies were then dominant in the championship game against Marquette of the Big East, stifling a previously undefeated Golden Eagles squad that was fresh off a win over 10^th-ranked Illinois, 70-54. Marquette was one of the teams receiving votes in this week's poll.

Bona's national ranking continues an upward movement that saw the squad slot at No. 23 in the preseason poll before moving up a spot to No. 22 in Week 2. This week's ranking represents the highest in a national poll for the program since a No. 12 rank Jan. 19, 1971, the last time St. Bonaventure was ranked prior to this season.

The Bonnies owned 517 voter's points this week, narrowly missing out on the top-15 behind 15^th-ranked Tennessee with 558. Gonzaga leads the polling for the third consecutive week, ahead of UCLA, Purdue, Kansas and Duke in the top-five.

By jumping up six spots, the Bonnies moved up more than any other previously ranked team in this week's polling. Arizona and BYU enter the rankings for the first time at No. 17 and 18 respectively.

In the USA Today Coaches' Poll, the Bonnies jumped eight spots and were ranked No. 16 there as well. They had been No. 24 in the preseason rankings. There was no Coaches' Poll last week. 

SBU returns to action this Saturday afternoon with another intriguing matchup as longtime mid-major power Northern Iowa visits the Reilly Center for a 2 p.m. battle. Tickets are available at GoBonnies.com/Tickets.

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