Feb. 19, 2008
>Game Notes
OLEAN, NY -
The road has been difficult for Atlantic 10 Conference teams and that is where Temple heads when it takes on St. Bonaventure Wednesday night (7:00 p.m./1210 AM WPHT/OwlAccess) at the Reilly Center. The Owls (13-11, 6-4) are coming off a 77-66 loss at Dayton and have won just two of five A-10 road contests. The Bonnies (7-17, 1-9) won their lone A-10 contest (Duquesne) at home, where they are 5-5 overall this season.
The Cherry and White, under the direction of second-year head coach Fran Dunphy, is led by the one-two punch of junior Dionte Christmas and senior Mark Tyndale. Christmas, vying to become just the fourth player in A-10 history to win consecutive league scoring titles, ranks second in the conference with a 20.2 average. Tyndale, the reigning Big 5 Player of the Week, ranks second on the Owls and ninth in the A-10 with a 16.2 scoring average. Tyndale also leads TU in rebounding (6.4 rpg.), assists (3.7 apg.) and steals (1.6 spg.).
Sophomore Ryan Brooks (8.1 ppg.) and freshman Lavoy Allen (8.0 ppg.) provide offensive support while Allen (32 blocks) and junior center Sergio Olmos (38 blocks) rank among the league's top 10 in rejections. Senior Chris Clark, who averages 9.3 points in A-10 play, is the teams top three-point shooter, connecting on 40.5 percent (34-84) from behind the arc.
The Bonnies, under the direction of first-year coach Mark Schmidt, are led by senior forward Michael Lee (17.1 ppg., 8.0 rpg.). Senior guard Zarryon Fereti (14.3 ppg.) is the only other SBU player to start all 24 contests while senior guard Tyler Relph (10.1 ppg.) also averages doubles figures.
Temple leads the all-time series, 47-6, and has won the last nine meetings in the series.
