Bonnies Are In
It was win and in for the Bonnies and --- they won so they're in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Chris Matthews led the Bonnies with 22 points. Andrew Nicholson had 15.
Patrick Pierson
Sports Information Director
St. Bonaventure University
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — With its postseason hopes still hanging in the balance, St. Bonaventure capped its regular season by clinching its first Atlantic 10 Tournament berth since 2005 with a 74-68 win over Charlotte on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
With the win, the Bonnies improve to 15-14 overall and finish with a 6-10 mark in the A-10. More importantly, the Brown and White will enter next week’s A-10 Tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. as the No. 11 seed and will take on the No. 6 seed, which will be determined later this evening. The game will be on Wednesday, March 11, at 9 p.m. at Boardwalk Hall.
“It was tough as a coach to have such a big game and have seven days off to think about it,” said head coach Mark Schmidt. “I thought the guys came out really well. We shot the heck out of the ball in the first half and we did a good job of attacking. It’s great to have seniors have it pay off for them and they played extremely well.”
Playing in the final home game of his career, senior Tyler Benson (Morgantown, W.Va./Massanutten Military Academy) drilled four three-pointers as the Bonnies tied a season-high with nine trefectas on the night. All 12 of Benson’s points came via the long range field goal, as the four-year letterwinner will make his first trip to the A-10 Tournament.
“I told the guys as we went to the locker room that they couldn’t wipe the smile off my face,” said an elated Benson in the postgame press conference. “It’s just been so long and that second half felt like four years. All the hard work we’ve put in paid off.”
The other half of the Bona long range threat came from junior Chris Matthews (Washington, D.C./Washington State), who brought his season three-pointer total to 80 with four more long range field goals. Matthews finished with a game-high 22 points, sinking 8-of-10 from the free throw line in 38 minutes of work.
Mixed in with St. Bonaventure’s solid outside shooting was the inside play of 6-foot-9 freshman Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, Ontario/Father Michael Goetz Secondary School). A candidate for A-10 Rookie of the Year, Nicholson turned in his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Nicholson sank 7-of-10 from the field en route to his 20th double figure outing.
St. Bonaventure overcame 14 second half turnovers by shooting 54 percent (24-44) from the field, including 9-of-18 from three-point land for the game. The Bonnies also held a 42-35 edge on the glass, marking the 21st time this season they’ve out-rebounded their opponent.
St. Bonaventure owned the opening 10 minutes of the game, sprinting out of the gates to a commanding 23-8 lead. The Bonnies scored the opening eight points of the contest, highlighted by a three-pointer by Benson.
After a bucket by Charlotte made it 14-6, sophomore Malcolm Eleby (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Learning Center) drew the third foul on Charlotte leading scorer Lamont Mack, who was fresh off a 32-point game against Richmond. The Bonnies thrived with Mack on the bench, reeling off a 9-2 run for the 23-8 edge.
As quickly as the Bona lead came it started to evaporate, as Charlotte scored the next eight points behind the play of its ultra-quick point guard DiJuan Harris. The junior scored four straight points during the run and assisted on the last basket to make it 23-16.
A pair of free throws by junior Ray Blackburn (Lackawanna, N.Y./Erie CC) broke the UNCC spurt and led to back-to-back three-pointers by Benson that sent the RC crowd into a frenzy and forced the 49ers to call a timeout trailing 31-16 with 5:42 remaining.
It turned out Benson long range makes were just the start of the Bona three-point barrage, as Matthews followed with a pair of triples, while Blackburn added one, as well, ballooning the lead to 40-20 by the three-minute mark.
St. Bonaventure took a 42-28 lead into the locker room after shooting 61 percent (14-23).
It was more of the same in the early stages of the second half, as the Bona lead reached 22, 54-32, with just over 16 minutes to play.
Charlotte answered back by scoring the next 12 points over the next four minutes, but the first half deficit was too large, as St. Bonaventure held on down the stretch for its fourth consecutive home win.
Junior Jonathan Hall (Miami, Fla./South Plains CC) had a great all-around game, collecting nine points, nine rebounds, a team-high five assists and two blocks. Playing the most minutes since returning from injury, Blackburn finished with five points, six rebounds and tied with Hall for the team lead with five helpers.
All five starters finished in double figures for Charlotte, who earned the No. 12 seed with the loss. The 49ers fell to 11-19 on the season and 5-11 in the A-10.
Patrick Pierson
Sports Information Director
St. Bonaventure University
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — With its postseason hopes still hanging in the balance, St. Bonaventure capped its regular season by clinching its first Atlantic 10 Tournament berth since 2005 with a 74-68 win over Charlotte on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
With the win, the Bonnies improve to 15-14 overall and finish with a 6-10 mark in the A-10. More importantly, the Brown and White will enter next week’s A-10 Tournament in Atlantic City, N.J. as the No. 11 seed and will take on the No. 6 seed, which will be determined later this evening. The game will be on Wednesday, March 11, at 9 p.m. at Boardwalk Hall.
“It was tough as a coach to have such a big game and have seven days off to think about it,” said head coach Mark Schmidt. “I thought the guys came out really well. We shot the heck out of the ball in the first half and we did a good job of attacking. It’s great to have seniors have it pay off for them and they played extremely well.”
Playing in the final home game of his career, senior Tyler Benson (Morgantown, W.Va./Massanutten Military Academy) drilled four three-pointers as the Bonnies tied a season-high with nine trefectas on the night. All 12 of Benson’s points came via the long range field goal, as the four-year letterwinner will make his first trip to the A-10 Tournament.
“I told the guys as we went to the locker room that they couldn’t wipe the smile off my face,” said an elated Benson in the postgame press conference. “It’s just been so long and that second half felt like four years. All the hard work we’ve put in paid off.”
The other half of the Bona long range threat came from junior Chris Matthews (Washington, D.C./Washington State), who brought his season three-pointer total to 80 with four more long range field goals. Matthews finished with a game-high 22 points, sinking 8-of-10 from the free throw line in 38 minutes of work.
Mixed in with St. Bonaventure’s solid outside shooting was the inside play of 6-foot-9 freshman Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, Ontario/Father Michael Goetz Secondary School). A candidate for A-10 Rookie of the Year, Nicholson turned in his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Nicholson sank 7-of-10 from the field en route to his 20th double figure outing.
St. Bonaventure overcame 14 second half turnovers by shooting 54 percent (24-44) from the field, including 9-of-18 from three-point land for the game. The Bonnies also held a 42-35 edge on the glass, marking the 21st time this season they’ve out-rebounded their opponent.
St. Bonaventure owned the opening 10 minutes of the game, sprinting out of the gates to a commanding 23-8 lead. The Bonnies scored the opening eight points of the contest, highlighted by a three-pointer by Benson.
After a bucket by Charlotte made it 14-6, sophomore Malcolm Eleby (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Learning Center) drew the third foul on Charlotte leading scorer Lamont Mack, who was fresh off a 32-point game against Richmond. The Bonnies thrived with Mack on the bench, reeling off a 9-2 run for the 23-8 edge.
As quickly as the Bona lead came it started to evaporate, as Charlotte scored the next eight points behind the play of its ultra-quick point guard DiJuan Harris. The junior scored four straight points during the run and assisted on the last basket to make it 23-16.
A pair of free throws by junior Ray Blackburn (Lackawanna, N.Y./Erie CC) broke the UNCC spurt and led to back-to-back three-pointers by Benson that sent the RC crowd into a frenzy and forced the 49ers to call a timeout trailing 31-16 with 5:42 remaining.
It turned out Benson long range makes were just the start of the Bona three-point barrage, as Matthews followed with a pair of triples, while Blackburn added one, as well, ballooning the lead to 40-20 by the three-minute mark.
St. Bonaventure took a 42-28 lead into the locker room after shooting 61 percent (14-23).
It was more of the same in the early stages of the second half, as the Bona lead reached 22, 54-32, with just over 16 minutes to play.
Charlotte answered back by scoring the next 12 points over the next four minutes, but the first half deficit was too large, as St. Bonaventure held on down the stretch for its fourth consecutive home win.
Junior Jonathan Hall (Miami, Fla./South Plains CC) had a great all-around game, collecting nine points, nine rebounds, a team-high five assists and two blocks. Playing the most minutes since returning from injury, Blackburn finished with five points, six rebounds and tied with Hall for the team lead with five helpers.
All five starters finished in double figures for Charlotte, who earned the No. 12 seed with the loss. The 49ers fell to 11-19 on the season and 5-11 in the A-10.
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