July 28 marked 100 days until the 2019-20 tip off for the Centennial Season of St. Bonaventure basketball. Each day leading up to the first game, St. Bonaventure Athletics will treat fans to moments from the history of Bonnies basketball, from tremendous photos, game programs, memorabilia and more, all leading up to a November 5 season tip.
Fans wishing to share photos or memorabilia from their favorite Bonnies moments should email them to seddy@sbu.edu.
DAYS 100-91 | DAYS 80-71 | DAYS 70-61 | DAYS 60-51 | DAYS 50-41 | Return to #Bonnies100 Site
DAY 90 (August 7)
St. Bonaventure’s Whitey Martin drives for a layup vs. Villa Madonna in the Olean Armory on Dec. 6, 1961. That game was the 94th straight win for the Bonnies at home and came as part of a 99-game win streak for Bona at the Armory - a streak that ran for 13 years. A small, packed and hostile home court advantage, the Armory was famous for having fans sitting literally inches off the court. SBU went 13 years without a home loss while head coach Eddie Donovan publically estimated the home court advantage to be from seven to 10 points for the Brown and White. Sports Illustrated article on home winning streak
Martin, meanwhile, was a catalyst of Bonnies teams in the late 50's and early 60's and helped start the program's tradition of having tremendous guard play. He helped the Bonnies to a pair of NIT bids in his first two seasons and then was co-captain of the school's first NCAA Tournament team in 1961. He was selected 10th overall in the NBA Draft by the New York Knicks in 1961. Today, his No. 34 hangs in The RC rafters.
DAY 89 (August 8)
In this 1952 photo, Bill Kenville celebrates setting the then-Bona season scoring record of 419 points (19.0 ppg). Kenville, far right, donned the Brown and White from 1951-54 and would finish his career with 908 points in three years on varsity. He was an All-American honorable mention in ’51 and ’52 and would play seven years in the NBA before being inducted in to the SBU Athletics Hall of Fame. Here, he’s joined by teammates Roger Davies and Bill Edwards. The 1951-52 team reached the NIT with 21 wins under coach Ed Melvin. At the time of his graduation, Kenville owned nine school scoring and rebounding records.
In the NBA, Kenville would win a championship with the Syracuse Nationals. He played alongside greats like Dolph Schayes and Earl Lloyd on the Nationals' 1955 NBA championship team when he averaged 7.1 points per game. After three seasons with Syracuse, he suited up with Fort Wayne in 1957 and then two seasons with the Detroit Pistons after the franchise moved.
DAY 88 (August 9)
Tom Stith became a legend in his No. 42 for St. Bonaventure. Here he shows his ability to elevate as he rises for a shot in the Buffalo Auditorium vs. DePaul during the 1960-61 season when the Bonnies would reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Bona would win the game, 78-69. Stith’s No. 42 is retired as he and his brother, Sam (who has his No. 22 retired), became the most well-known duo in St. Bonaventure history.
Stith would be selected No. 2 overall in the NBA Draft by the New York Knicks following the season.
More on the Stith brothers and their Bona careers
DAY 87 (August 10)
Miles Aiken looks to attack in this 1964 NIT game photo vs. Army West Point at Madison Square Garden. The game was a heartbreaker for the Bonnies as Army came away with a 64-62 win, but it was a standout game for Aiken who finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds. The Bonnies center during the early 60s averaged 23.6 points per game during the ’61-62 campaign before suffering injury. On December 16, 1961, he broke Elgin Baylor's Bluegrass invitational basketball tournament record by scoring 58 points in two games. The Bonnies, meanwhile, were one of the nation's top programs during the time period and reached the NIT six out of eight years between 1956 and 1964.
Following his St. Bonaventure career, he would play professionally in the EuroLeague and won two championships with Real Madrid. In later years, he was Britain’s Olympic Team coach in 1976.
DAY 86 (August 11)
When St. Bonaventure made its memorable run to the NIT championship in 1977, droves of Bonnies fans got their tickets at Madison Square Garden in New York City to see the Brown and White make history.
St. Bonaventure captured the NIT title in March of 1977 at the Garden, topping Houston, 94-91. Greg Sanders scored 40 points and was named the Most Valuable Player of the NIT. The Bonnies defeated Villanova in the semifinals, 86-82, after getting by Rutgers and Oregon before that, using some heroics along the way. Glenn Hagan made a last-second shot that gave St. Bonaventure a 79-77 win over Rutgers, making the championship run possible.
Sanders and Essie Hollis led the offense that averaged a remarkable 82 points per game. Hollis finished the year averaging 21.7 points per game and Sanders 21.2. Jim Baron led the team in assists and was a lockdown defender; Hagan was the point guard with a dramatic flair and Tim Waterman helped Hollis man the interior.
Sanders, Hollis, Baron, Hagan, head coach Jim Satalin, assistant coach Bob Sassone and Bill Kalbaugh are all members of the St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Fame.
DAY 85 (August 12)
The front page of The Bona Venture campus newspaper on Feb. 22, 1957
The 1956-57 St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team became the first team under legendary head coach Eddie Donovan to receive a bid in the National Invitation Tournament and the first SBU team to qualify for the tournament since 1952.
The Bona Venture news editor, Bob Dubill -- who went on to become the executive editor of USA Today after his graduation from Bona -- captured the feel on campus after the news of SBU’s acceptance into the NIT.
“Ever since the hallowed era of Coach Ed Melvin’s ‘Wonder Five’, hopes for an N.I.T. bid had been relegated to dreams.
Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the campus dining hall, however, a telegram was read to Bonaventure students that transformed the dreams into reality. Father Falter Fox, O.F.M., athletic director, announced that “St. Bonaventure accepts with pleasure the invitation to play in the National Invitation Tournament.” Bedlam broke loose!”
The Bonnies, listed as a six-point underdog in their first-round matchup against Cincinnati, defeated the Bearcats 90-72 with captain Brendan McCann leading the way with 17 points. However, looming for them in the second round would be All-American and future NBA hall-of-famer Elgin Baylor and Seattle University. But, thanks to three early fouls on SU’s top player and double-digit points from six Bonnies including 16 from future head coach Larry Weise, SBU held Baylor to just 23 points en route to an 85-68 landmark victory at Madison Square Garden to advance to the semifinals against Memphis State. Memphis came away with an 80-78 win in overtime, but the Bonnies finished with a 17-7 record, starting a run of five straight years making the national postseason.
DAY 84 (August 13)
Talk show host Jay Leno even donned the Brown and White as part of an amazing 1999-2000 season for the Bonnies program. The Bonnies made a visit to a taping of the show in Los Angeles during November 1999 while playing in a Thanksgiving tournament at Pepperdine. During the trip, Bona beat Colorado State and UNC Charlotte to win the tournament.
St. Bonaventure returned to the national spotlight under head coach Jim Baron and in ’99-00 earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 21-9 record including an 11-5 mark in the Atlantic 10. Baron’s Bonnies then put in one of the most memorable performances in program history, taking Kentucky to double overtime in the first round in Cleveland before falling, 85-80. Patricio Prato had a team-high 20 points in the tournament while J.R. Bremer finished with 17 and David Messiah Capers had 16 and Tim Winn had a double-double of 10 points and 10 assists. SBU may have fallen short in that game, but there was no doubt – the Bonnies were back.
DAY 83 (August 14)
The Bonnies had a banner year during the 1982-83 season, returning to the national postseason for the 1983 NIT.
SBU won 20 games under head coach Jim O’Brien who was named U.S. Rookie Coach of the Year by Basketball Times magazine for his first season of work as well as Atlantic 10 Co-Coach of the Year after a first-place finish in the A-10 Western Division. Mark Jones led the way on the court, averaging over 16 points per game while Mike Sheehey (13.6 ppg) and Norman Clarke (10.5 ppg) averaged in double figures as well and Eric Stover, Rob Samuels and Rob Garbade all played in each of the 30 games as well.
DAY 82 (August 15)
Head coach Carroll “Mike” Reilly instructs members of his 1937-38 team including Mike Bunowski (kneeling), and above (left to right) Skip Rucinski, Steve Gilbert, “Hooks” Loeven and John Labas. It remains Bona’s only undefeated team (9-0). Included in that season were four wins over Little Three rivals Niagara and Canisius as Bona topped both squads twice.
Reilly was at the helm of the program from 1928 through 1943 and guided the Bonnies to 10 winning seasons. Today, the Reilly Center is named in his honor.
DAY 81 (August 16)
March Madness was everywhere around the St. Bonaventure and Olean communities in 1970 as the Bonnies made their run to the Final Four.
This Olean Times Herald photo shows the Very Rev. Richard Duncan of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church hanging a sign in support of the Bonnies while students on campus made their bid for time off class to make the trip to see their team play for history in South Carolina.
Check back each day as we continue our 100 Years, 100 Days Countdown To Tip Off! Or look back at previous countdown memories | Continue to the next set of countdown days.
