Feb. 8, 2008

Complete Game Notes 

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Saturday, February 9, 2008
SITE: Reilly Center (5,780)
COURT: Bob Lanier Court
TIP-OFF: 7:00 p.m.
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
WXRL (1300 AM) - Buffalo
WHTK (1280 AM) - Rochester
TALENT: Gary Nease (play-by-play)
Dr. John Watson (analyst)
WEB AUDIO & VIDEO: www.GoBonnies.com
SERIES: Charlotte leads, 5-2
UP NEXT: Wednesday, February 13, 2008
at Saint Joseph's @ 7 p.m.

AtAGlance
After a week away from game action, St. Bonaventure returns to Bob Lanier Court to host the Charlotte 49ers. The Bonnies are 5-3 at the Reilly Center this season and are a week removed from a convincing 74-59 win over Atlantic 10 rival Duquesne. Tonight is just the eighth meeting between Charlotte and St. Bonaventure and the first between first year head coach Mark Schmidt and Bobby Lutz. The 49ers denied the Bonnies an appearance in the A-10 Tournament last season with a 74-53 win at Halton Arena in season finale.

SeriesHistory
Since joining the Atlantic 10 in the 2005- 06 season, Charlotte has taken twostraight from the Brown and White and owns a 5-2 edge in the all-time series. The 2006 meeting was the first-ever at the Reilly Center and just third at either team's home arena. The two teams have split four meetings at neutral settings and the 49ers are a perfect 2-0 at Halton Arena. St. Bonaventure last win in the series came in Rochester, N.Y. at Blue Cross Arena on Nov. 25, 2000, in former head coach Jim Baron's final season when Charlotte was a member of Conference USA.

ThisDayInBonaBasketball
St. Bonaventure is 3-9 all-time when playing on February 9, dating back to the 1975-76 season in the Bona record books - the final season that has actual dates recorded. One the biggest wins in Reilly Center history came on Feb. 9 in 2002, as the Bonnies ended Xavier's nation-best 12-game win streak with a 80-79 comeback win. Led by J.R. Bremer's 26 points, St. Bonaventure erased a seven-point deficit in the final three minutes to defeat first year head coach Thad Matta and future NCAA Player of the Year David West. The Musketeers went on to win both the A-10 regular season crown and tournament title.

HeadCoachingMatchup
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 7-14 (First Season)
Overall: 89-104 (7th Season)
Vs. Charlotte: 0-0

CHARLOTTE HEAD COACH
Bobby Lutz
@ Charlotte: 181-120 (10th Season)
Overall: 362-211 (19th Season)
Vs. St. Bonaventure: 3-2

Scouting the 49ERS
Just one win shy of its 2006-07 total (14), Charlotte has returned to its winning ways thanks to the play of senior guard Leemire Goldwire and its group of newcomers that were deemed the 13th-ranked class in the nation prior to the season. The 49ers are 2-4 in true road games this season, including 1-2 in A-10 play, and are in the midst of just their second losing streak of the season. The Atlantic 10's fourth-leading scorer (18.8), Goldwire is averaging just 6.5 points and is 3-of-25, including 2-of-22 from three-point range, over Charlotte's current two-game losing streak. Goldwire, who is tied for the A-10 lead with three 30-point efforts, has been held under 10 points in two consecutive games after scoring double figures in 20-straight games. Junior college transfers Charlie Coley and Lamont Mack along with freshman An'Juan Wilderness have played a major role in the resurgence of the 49er frontcourt. The trio is holds the top three spots on the team in rebounding and is combining to average 27.8 points and 15.9 boards per game.

LAST TIME OUT: Bonnies use big second half to defeat duquesne
Five players in double figures and a stout team defensive effort helped St. Bonaventure earn its first Atlantic 10 victory of the season last Saturday afternoon as it defeated Duquesne 74-59 on Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center. The Dukes (13-7, 3-4) entered the game ranked third in the nation in points per game (85.7), but were held to nearly 30 points below their season average thanks to a 36 percent (21-58) shooting clip from the field and 22 percent (6-27) from beyond the arc. On the flipside, the Brown and White shot a blistering 65 percent from the floor in the second half. Senior Michael Lee led a season-high five Bonnies in double-digits with gamehighs of 16 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Junior Tyler Benson scored a season-high 15 points while adding five boards and five assists. Freshman forward Matt Morgan continued his strong play, accounting for 13 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Seniors Zarryon Fereti and Tyler Relph chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Relph added six assists and a career-high six rebounds, while Fereti established a career-high of four steals. After a first half that featured six lead changes and eight ties resulted in a 31-28 Duquesne lead at the break, St. Bonaventure started to make its move at the first media timeout of the second half.

MORGAN EARNS A-10 WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Freshman forward Matt Morgan has been named the Atlantic 10 Co- Player of the Week, announced by the conference office on Sunday, February 3. Morgan continued to provide the Bonnies with a spark off the bench last week with a pair of double-digit scoring efforts. The Landover, Md., product averaged 11.5 points and seven boards, while making 7-of- 11 shots from the field and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Morgan set season-highs in both points (13) and rebounds (9) in 23 minutes of action in helping the Brown and White defeat Duquesne for their first A-10 win on Saturday. Earlier in the week, Morgan scored 10 points and grabbed five boards at La Salle. Since the start of conference action, Morgan has quadrupled his points per game (6.0) and nearly tripled his rebounding efforts (3.7). Morgan has scored in double figures in three of the last four games and is averaging 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds over that span.

two tyler's make a right
In their seven games in the starting lineup together, senior Tyler Relph and junior Tyler Benson have combined to given the Bonnies some stability with their consistent play. The duo has combined for 17.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists per game over the seven-game span. The most impressive statistic is their 1.74 (54/31) assist/turnover ratio. Benson has been the primary source, dishing out 24 assists while committing just six turnovers. Relph has picked up the slack at the offensive end, collecting 10.3 points per game.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE
The play of St. Bonaventure's three seniors will dictate the Bonnies success this season in the Atlantic 10 with such a young roster. Zarryon Fereti, Michael Lee and Tyler Relph have answered the call so far this season. The trio is averaging 40.8 points per game, 62 percent of the team's scoring. Each of them are in the program's top 100 scorers of all time and they hold the top three spots on team's current leading scorers list. They also hold two of the top three spots on the team in rebounding, assists and steals. At least one of the three has scored in double-digits in every game, two of them in 15 games and four occasions when all three have hit for double figures.

Elite Company
Senior Michael Lee has used steady play throughout his career to build one of the best resumes in program history. Earlier in the season, Lee became the 21st player in school history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for his career. Lee ranks 23rd on the all-time scoring list with 2,264 points and 21st with 616 rebounds.

One-Two Punch
The Atlantic 10 Conference boasts six scoring tandems that average a combined 30 points per game. Seniors Zarryon Fereti and Michael Lee are vital parts of St. Bonaventure's offense. The duo ranks as fifth-best scoring tandem in the Atlantic 10 at 31.5 points per game. Lee ranks eighth in the conference in scoring (17.2), while Fereti is 15th at 14.3 points per game. Both established new career-high's against Binghamton earlier this season in the team's home opener with Fereti going for 32 and Lee scoring 26. Lee has led the team in scoring 13 times and between them they have led or tied for the team lead in scoring in all but three games.

Bonnies Ink Pair In Early Signing Period
St. Bonaventure men's basketball first year head coach Mark Schmidt announced a pair of signings this past week. Andrew Nicholson, a 6-foot-9 forward and Marquise Simmons, a 6-foot-8 swingman, both inked National Letters of Intent to join the Bonnies in 2008. A native of Mississauga, Ontario, Nicholson is in his final year at Father Michael Goetz Secondary School. Simmons hails from Capitol Heights, Md. and is entering his senior season at Central High School.