ST. BONAVENTURE (7-3) vs. BINGHAMTON (7-4)
Friday, Dec. 22 - 7:00 p.m.
Reilly Center
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Bonnies Online Network

OPENING TIP

• St. Bonaventure returns home to the Reilly Center looking to bounce back after having a five-game winning streak snapped vs. No. 15/14 FAU last weekend. The Bonnies led for over 24 minutes of game time in their upset bid, but saw the opportunity for a nationally-ranked win thwarted in the late minutes thanks in large part to a costly turnover total of 21. 
• The Bonnies aim to improve to 5-1 on home court this season in the penultimate non-conference contest. Bona wraps non-conference play Dec. 30 in Cleveland with a neutral court contest vs. Akron. 
• Charles Pride leads the Bonnies with 16.5 ppg in his first four games played at the Reilly Center. The grad transfer returned to the lineup last Saturday after missing the previous three games due to an ankle injury. He finished with six points, three rebounds and two assists vs. FAU. Prior to his injury, Pride had been Bona's leading scorer and rebounder.
• St. Bonaventure is 343-252 all-time against opponents from the Empire State. There are 22 New York schools currently playing at the Division I level and the Bonnies have played them all except one - there has never been an SBU vs. SBU matchup as the Bonnies have never played Stony Brook in men's basketball.
• Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the Bonnies have the third-best winning percentage out of the 22 Division I programs in New York State at .604. Only Syracuse and Iona have higher winning percentages in that span.
• Mika Adams-Woods had a streak of 19 straight made field goals broken with his first shot vs. FAU, but after a 4-for-9 shooting day remains first in the Atlantic 10 and 35th nationally with a shooting percentage of 59.8% from the floor.
• Moses Flowers led the Bonnies vs. FAU with 12 points off the bench. He made a pair of three-pointers late in the game and made a bid for a third with just over a minute to play that would have made the score 58-55. The shot hit nearly every part of the rim before rattling out, allowing FAU to secure the game down the stretch. Flowers has fared well vs. Binghamton in the past when he played in the America East at Hartford. In four career games vs. Binghamton, Flowers scored in double figures each time and averaged 15.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg.
• The Bonnies have a 77.6% winning percentage at home since 2015-16 (90-26). Friday's game is the last home contest for the Bonnies until Jan. 13 when they welcome Fordham.

TEACHER APPRECIATION NIGHT
December 22 is Teacher Appreciation Night and all local school district employees will receive a free ticket by showing a valid district ID at the ticket office. Tickets are available at the link above, or text/call (716) 375-2500 for more information.


TRENDING NUMBERS
-4  – Bona had won the battle of the boards in seven of their previous eight games but finished -4 (36-32) with a size disadvantage vs. FAU.
2.5 – Mika Adams-Woods currently has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.5.
4 –  Kyrell Luc had a season-high four assists in just over seven minutes off the bench vs. FAU. He had a team-best 137 helpers last season.
11  –  Assa Essamvous posted 11 first half points vs. FAU, his first double-digit scoring performance since Nov. 16 vs. Oklahoma State. He also recorded seven rebounds.
20  – The Bonnies have seven players on their active roster who have single-game career highs of 20 points or more. Nationally, only TCU (9), BYU (8), Missouri (8) and New Mexico (8) have more. Speaking of 20-point games, both Mika Adams-Woods and Chad Venning posted their fifth career 20-point outings in the last home game vs. Siena.
54  – Bona scored a season-low 54 points vs. FAU. Prior to that game, the Bonnies were averaging over 76 points per game. That would represent the best offensive production for the team since 2017-18 when the Bonnies averaged 77.1 ppg, finishing the year with a school record for wins (26) and an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament where they beat UCLA in the First Four. 
64  – Despite the loss last weekend, Bona's defense did a great job vs. No. 15/14 FAU. The Bonnies limited the Owls to 64 points and 41% shooting from the floor - FAU had entered the day among the national leaders in offense, averaging 85 points and 52% FG in their first 10 games of the season.
66.7%  – St. Bonaventure shot 66.7% from the floor in its Dec. 6 win at Niagara (38-57), representing the best field goal shooting performance by the Bonnies in a game since a 98-71 win vs. Norfolk State in November 2009 when they finished at 67.3% (37-55). On that night, future Bona Hall of Famer and first round NBA Draft pick Andrew Nicholson led the way with 29 points on 11-13 shooting.
76.0%  – St. Bonaventure ranks 33rd nationally so far this year in free throw percentage at 76.0% on the season. Daryl Banks III is best on the team, sinking 92% of his tries at the line (23-25).


SERIES HISTORY
St. Bonaventure leads, 5-1
The Bonnies and Bearcats are meeting for the first time in eight years. The Bonnies have won four in a row and five out of six all-time against their fellow Southern Tier rival. Bona has won all three matchups vs. Binghamton inside the Reilly Center (2007, 2009 and 2015) and Binghamton's only win in the series came on its home floor on Dec. 30, 2007 (64-59). The two teams had never met previous to 2007 as Binghamton did not join the Division I ranks until 2001. 

St. Bonaventure vs. Binghamton: The Last Meeting
Nov. 13, 2015, at Reilly Center
It took nearly all 40 minutes, but St. Bonaventure earned a hard-fought, 63-53 win over visiting Binghamton in the 2015-16 season-opener.

Senior forward Dion Wright scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half to lead the Bonnies. Playing 31 minutes off the bench, junior Denzel Gregg recorded the first double-double of his career, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds to go with four blocks.

St. Bonaventure led by just two points at 50-48 with 5:24 left but took control with a 7-0 spurt keyed by a new face, freshman point guard Nelson Kaputo. The Toronto native had a three-pointer, an assist and a steal in the run that gave the Bonnies a 57-48 lead with 3:35 remaining. Binghamton could not come any closer than six points after that.

Bonnies vs. the America East: The Bonnies are 22-9 all-time against current members of the America East. In addition to Moses Flowers having America East experience, Charles Pride also played in the conference for one year when Bryant joined the league last season. In two games vs. Binghamton, he posted eight points and five rebounds in the first contest before a 17-point effort with four boards in the second game vs. the Bearcats.


ABOUT BINGHAMTON

• The Bearcats enter Friday night's game on a three-game winning streak, winning at Stonehill (79-64) and at home vs. both Le Moyne (91-79) and Niagara (74-69). BU is a perfect 3-0 this month so far, having had a 10-day layoff before a victory over Niagara on Tuesday night. 
• Senior center Tariq Balogun had a career-high 21 points in Tuesday's win over Niagara. 
• Binghamton is averaging nearly 74 points per game while allowing 71 points per contest. Turnovers have been an issue as the Bearcats rank 313th in the nation for turnover margin (-2.3), but they're strong on the boards (+4.4 in rebounding margin) and their 5.2 blocks per game rank 31st nationally. 
• Binghamton led for more than half the game in its opener at Northwestern before the Big Ten Wildcats pulled away late, 72-61.
• BU was picked fourth in the America East Preseason Poll. Point guard Symir Torrence (9.9 ppg, 3.7 apg) is a grad transfer who played in 113 games combined between Syracuse and Marquette.

------
For the latest news on St. Bonaventure athletics, stay connected on social media. Follow the Bonnies on X @GoBonnies and get men's basketball updates @BonniesMBB. Keep up with the Bonnies on Facebook /GoBonnies and on Instagram @GoBonnies