ST. BONAVENTURE (12-7, 4-4) vs. FORDHAM (10-11, 3-5)
Tuesday, Feb. 8 - 7:00 p.m.
Reilly Center
TV: ESPN+

• The Bonnies continue their busy month of February by returning home to host Fordham. Bona is scheduled to play nine times this month with six of those games coming at home – a great contrast to the past two months. When St. Bonaventure defeated Saint Joseph's last Saturday, it was just Bona's second home game in a span of 51 days. 
• Senior Dominick Welch became the 46th 1,000-point scorer in program history and joined teammates Kyle Lofton and Jalen Adaway in the 1,000-point club when he surpassed the 1,000-point mark Friday at Richmond. St. Bonaventure is one of 11 teams nationwide with three or more active 1,000-point scorers on the roster. Osun Osunniyi is also creeping up on the 1K total, which would allow the Bonnies to join UAB, Richmond and Miami with four 1,000-point players.
• St. Bonaventure looks to bounce back from its first back-to-back losses in league play in nearly two calendar years. The last time St. Bonaventure opened the A-10 calendar at 4-4 through eight league games: the 2018-19 season when the Bonnies finished the year one bucket shy of the A-10 title, led by then-freshmen Kyle Lofton, Dominick Welch and Osun Osunniyi. Bona was also 4-4 the previous year (after starting 2-4), ultimately reaching the NCAA Tournament. The Bonnies have not had a losing record in conference play this deep in the season since falling to 7-8 during the 2014-15 campaign, ultimately finishing 10-8. 
• Tuesday's matchup features two of the top-five scorers in A-10 play this season: Darius Quisenberry of Fordham ranks second at 19.4 ppg while Bona's Jalen Adaway is fifth at 17.9 ppg.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS

• Kyle Lofton became just the fourth player in program history to reach 500 career assists, handing out his 500th career helper Jan. 29 vs. Saint Joseph's. Lofton continues to rise in the career scoring charts as well, now with 1,454 points. He needs 11 points to match Bill Butler, '68, a member of the original 'Ironman Five' who stands 17th with 1,462 points. Last Tuesday vs. Davidson, he made a run at the first triple-double in school history, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds, eight assists plus four steals.
• Osun Osunniyi logged another career milestone Jan. 29 vs. Saint Joseph's by finishing that game with 790 career rebounds to pass the legendary Fred Crawford, '64 (789) for sixth in school history. Every person ahead of Osunniyi on the career rebounding list is a member of the St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Fame. Osunniyi also broke a tie with Andrew Nicholson, '12, for second in career blocks (248) during the La Salle win. He now needs 26 more blocks to surpass Caswell Cyrus, '00, for the program record. Osunniyi is an enormous reason the Bonnies entered last week ranked ninth in the nation in defensive block percentage (15.9%) according to KenPom.
• Another Bonnie continues to close on the 1,000-point mark: Osun Osunniyi is at 936 career points.  

NO WHISTLES
St. Bonaventure has been whistled for the second-fewest fouls in the nation, 266. New Hampshire is the only team in the nation to have committed fewer fouls (240).

TRENDING NUMBERS 
2 – SBU had not lost back-to-back Atlantic 10 contests in nearly two years prior to last week: Feb. 26 and Feb. 29, 2020 (vs. Duquesne, at La Salle).
2.3 – Kyle Lofton is second among all A-10 players in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) this year (Jacob Gilyard of UR is first, 3.5)
3 – Osun Osunniyi has three or more blocks in 51 career games.
3 – The 3-point line has been Bona's Achilles' heel this season. The Bonnies rank 251st in the nation in their own 3-point percentage (32.4%) while also standing 266th in 3-point percentage defense (35.2%). 42 percent of opponent scoring is coming from long range this year.
59.1 – Bona's defense was stifling against Atlantic 10 opponents last year, surrendering an average of 59.1 points per game. 
Opponents failed to reach 60 points eight times during the regular season conference slate as the Bonnies posted the league's top defense. Thus far in 2021-22, the Bonnies are allowing 68.6 ppg.
65 – The Bonnies are 19-2 when holding opponents to 65 points or less in the past two seasons. 
76.9% – SBU ranks 24th nationally and second in the Atlantic 10 in foul line success, shooting 76.9% as a team at the line. 
86% – Jalen Adaway ranks fourth in the A-10 at the foul line, shooting 86 percent this season.
800 – Osun Osunniyi became the sixth player in program history to record 800 career rebounds during the Richmond game.

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday marks the 46th meeting between the Bonnies and the Rams. St. Bonaventure leads the series 28-17 and has won 10 straight over its in-state foe. Stretching further, the Bonnies have won 16 of the last 17 games dating back to 2010. 

PREVIOUS MEETING
St. Bonaventure 68, Fordham 54 (1/13/21)
Kyle Lofton earned his spot in the St. Bonaventure men's basketball record book and the Bonnies continued their strong start to the uneven 2020-21 season with a 68-54 win during Wednesday matinee action at Fordham.

Lofton became the 45th 1,000-point scorer in program history, surpassing the milestone with a layup at the 19:36 mark of the second half, and fellow junior Jaren Holmes remained red-hot. Holmes paced all scorers with 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting and now has posted 64 points over the past two games. Lofton, meanwhile, checked in with 14 points and six assists. Jalen Adaway just missed a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.

After a hot start offensively for both teams - Fordham made seven threes in the first half - Bona's defense clamped down during the second half, especially from distance as the Rams went just 2-of-13 from long range after halftime following their torrid start. In all, Fordham shot a mere 27 percent (6-for-22) from the floor in the second period.

The visitors simply dominated the boards, out-rebounding Fordham by a 43-24 margin. Bonaventure proved to be efficient distributors – one game removed from a 27-assist effort, the Bonnies handed out 20 assists on 24 made field goals, paced by several tremendous looks presented by Osunniyi who led the way with seven helpers.

ABOUT FORDHAM

• The Rams have been much improved under first-year head coach Kyle Neptune, recording a 10-11 record thus far after finishing a shortened campaign at 2-12 last year.
• Neptune served the past eight seasons with Villanova, averaging 29 wins per year and a pair of NCAA national championships. 
• Also on Neptune's staff is assistant coach Tray Woodall, who was on the Bonnies staff the past two seasons.
• Fordham has earned league wins over La Salle, Duquesne and Rhode Island. The Rams dropped a 72-69 decision at Saint Joseph's on Saturday. 
• Fordham ranks ninth in offense among A-10 squads (68.8 ppg) and seventh in scoring defense (67.9 ppg allowed), but struggles beyond the arc, ranking 13th in the league at 31 percent. Fordham's eight steals per game is third in the league and their turnover margin (+1.7) is also third.
• Chuba Ohams leads the league in rebounding - by over two rebounds per game - at 11.3 rpg. Darius Quisenberry is the second-leading scorer in the league at 17.6 ppg.

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