March 11, 2009 | AP Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Kevin Anderson scored 22 points to lead sixth-seeded Richmond to an 65-49 win over No. 11 St. Bonaventure in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament on Wednesday.

David Gonzalvez added 18 points and Ryan Butler had 10 for Richmond (18-14), which will play third-seeded Dayton at 9 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal game. Anderson added six assists for the Spiders, who were eliminated in the first round each of the last three years.

Andrew Nicholson and Jonathan Hall paced St. Bonaventure (15-15) with 13 points apiece.

Richmond led 28-22 at the half, then scored the first seven points of the second half, capped by Gonzalvez’s fastbreak layup on a behind-the-back assist from Anderson.

St. Bonaventure closed the gap to six when Michael Davenport hit consecutive 3-pointers with 9:39 left. But Butler converted five free throws during a 7-0 Richmond run that pushed the lead back to 13 with 6:31 left.

Starting Thursday afternoon, John Lamb of A10CollegeHoops.com will be courtside at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ to bring you live coverage of the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Conference Tournament. We will be giving you with live updates throughout the day. If it happens on the court, you will read about it right here.

With so many players, media personalities and other distinguished guests in the house you can bet that we will have plenty of interviews and other features to keep you busy in-between sessions. John will also be running a live blog for each game in case you don’t have access to television or radio.

Keep it here even after your favorite team experiences the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat as we will be sharing audio from all of the post game press conferences that take place throughout the week.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments please feel free to contact us via the link at the top of the page, by posting in the comments section or reaching out to us during one of the live blogs.

Finally, here is a down and dirty version of how John thinks tomorrow’s set of games will play out.

#8 La Salle vs. #9 St. Louis – This is certainly an interesting matchup as these two teams played this passed Saturday. Just like the last meeting, La Salle walk out with the W and move on to Day 2 of the tournament. This time they will do it by beating St. Louis at their own game: defense. This will be an ugly, defense-first kind of game.  EXPLORERS 62, BILLIKENS 54

#5 Saint Joseph’s vs. #12 Charlotte – SJU handled the 49ers in their previous matchup back in January but that was then and this is now. Neither team is really setting the world ablaze as Charlotte has dropped four of five since upsetting Xavier at Halton Arena and the Hawks have played .500 ball to the tune of 7-7 since defeating Charlotte. Although Coach Martelli has been justifying playing four of his five starters for 34 minutes-plus a game by saying that they are t0o young to be tired, it looks like the Hawks are running on fumes. Charlotte pulls off the minor ‘upset’ and we will be left wondering just how good Ahmad Nivins would have been if he had a complete team around him. 49ERS 74, HAWKS 67

#7 Duquesne vs. #10 Massachusetts – The resurgent Dukes of Duquesne played Umass in late February in Amherst and walked away with a 17 point victory. Massachusetts has talented players in  Chris Lowe, Tony Gaffney and Ricky Harris but they haven’t fully absorbed Derek Kellogg’s system. The Dukes, on the other hand, have become a dangerous team in league play under third-year coach Ron Everhart. Gone are the days of Duquesne being an automatic ‘W’ as this squad is for real and could give Rhode Island some serious competition. The Dukes lost by two to the Rams on March 1 and would love nothing better than to end URI’s season. DUKES 83, MINUTEMEN 71

#6 Richmond vs. #11 St. Bonaventure – This is an intriguing match up as one of the Bonnies six A-10 victories came at the expense of the Spiders back in January. Coming into this game there are those that are calling Richmond a dark horse to win it all. I suppose beating the best team in the conference on your home floor can get people talking about you. The Spiders have one of the best young coaches in the game in Chris Mooney and two talented guards: David Gonzalvez and Kevin Anderson. The Bonnies have a tremendous talent of their own in the form of A-10 Rookie of the Year Andrew Nicholson. While I think that Richmond will win the game and go on to face Dayton on Thursday, St. Bonaventure may very well be a force in the Atlantic 10 next year. The Bonnies will return four of their five starters and all but one of their contributing bench players. Mark Schmidt should be commended for the job he is doing with a program that was once a laughingstock. SPIDERS 67, BONNIES 61

John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com

March 7, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Chris Matthews scored a game-high 22 points as St. Bonaventure defeated Charlotte, 74-68, Saturday to clinch a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Andrew Nicholson added 15 points and 10 rebounds for St. Bonaventure (15-14, 6-10), while Tyler Benson scored a season-high 12 points in his final regular-season game as a Bonnie.

For the 49ers (11-19, 5-11), DiJuan Harris led the way with 16 points. Charlie Coley III scored 13 points for Charlotte while AnJuan Wilderness, Lamont Mack and Ian Anderson had 10 each.

The Bonnies never trailed as they jumped to an 8-0 lead to start the game. The Bonnies led by as much as 22 points with 16:29 left in the game when Charlotte kicked off a 17-4 run and eventually cut the lead to four with 4:03 left to play. The 49ers looked to complete the comeback, but a big block from Nicholson iced the game for the Bonnies.

March 1, 2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA – Ahmad Nivins scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and Tasheed Carr added 17 points as Saint Joseph’s snapped a five-game losing streak with a 73-62 victory over St. Bonaventure on Sunday.

Nivins, playing in his last home game for the Hawks (14-14, 6-8 Atlantic 10), has scored in double figures in 40 straight games, and has recorded 19 double-doubles. He leads the A10 in scoring, rebounding and shooting percentage.

Chris Matthews had 15 points and Malcolm Eleby 14 for the Bonnies (14-14, 5-10 A10), who lost their 15th straight to Saint Joseph’s.

The Hawks never trailed in the game and led 52-42 with 7:29 remaining. The Bonnies rallied to within 57-52 on a layup by Andrew Nicholson with 3:36 to play, but Nivins hit a 6-footer, starting a 9-3 run, and the Bonnies never threatened again.

February 25, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Jonathan Hall scored a career-high 31 points and had seven rebounds Wednesday to lead St. Bonaventure past Saint Louis, 72-55.

Maurice Thomas scored 14 points for the Bonnies (14-13, 5-9 Atlantic 10) and pulled down nine rebounds. Michael Davenport chipped in eight points for St. Bonaventure.

For the Billikens (17-11, 8-6 Atlantic 10), Kwamain Mitchell led the way with 15 points. Kevin Lisch scored 13 points, while Tommie Liddell III and Willie Reed each added seven.

The Bonnies controlled the game from tip-off, trailing only once, by 5-4, at 16:15 in the first half. After Thomas hit the game’s first basket, Hall set the tone for the Bonnies, scoring 10 points in a row and keying a 13-6 run.

Hall’s 31 points were the most scored by a St. Bonaventure player since Zaryon Fereti scored 32 in last season’s home opener against Binghamton.

February 22, 2009

John Lamb| A10CollegeHoops

PHILADELPHIA – It was Dionte Christmas Bobblehead Doll day at the Liacouras Center on Sunday afternoon but Lavoy Allen ended up being the star of the show en route to a 70-56 victory over the visiting Saint Bonaventure Bonnies.

Allen put up 20 points and grabbed 18 a career-high rebounds. He was so dominant early on that he picked up his 10th double-double just eight minutes into the game.

To put his performance in perspective, Allen grabbed 14 rebounds through the first 20 minutes of play; the Bonnies (13-13, 4-9 A10), as a team, had 13.

Allen said Coach Fran Dunphy has been challenging him in practice to become a more prominent part of what the Owls (17-9, 9-3) are trying to do on the court.

“[Coach Dunphy] tells me that he wants me to be more aggressive, take more shots and stop passing the ball so much,” joked Allen, who still dished out two assists.

Most of the 6-9 sophomore forward’s points came from put-backs and uncontested dunks. Temple’s guards were able to penetrate the lane at will and hit Allen with simple dump passes after the defense rotated.

Dionte Christmas pointed out after the game that while his production may be down over the past few weeks the contributions of players like Allen and Ryan Brooks have been more than enough to keep the Owls winning.

“The last couple of weeks I haven’t had to score 25 or 30 points for our team to be successful,” said Christmas, who has not registered a 20 point game since he scored 27 against Rhode Island on January 28. “We are a balanced team. For me to be out there scoring 30 or 40 points a game there is no need. But if we need it and the team needs me to do anything then I’ll do it. If I score 5 and we win that is all I care about.”

Dunphy acknowledged in his post game press conference that Christmas is a good leader for the team but that there are a lot of outside pressures that he has been faced with in recent weeks such as his quest to become the first three-time leading scorer in A-10 history and his candidacy for Player of the Year in both the conference and Big 5.

“Dionte is a good leader, he is a good human being and I think that is the nicest compliment anybody can have given to them,” said Dunphy, who also stated that they do not talk to Christmas about the NBA. “He cares about his team, he cares about his family and that is a nice way to be. He is not overly concerned by himself about himself but at the same time there are a lot of outside pressures acting on his person at this time and I think he is handling it the best he can.”

Temple received a big time contribution from Ryan Brooks. The junior guard scored 12 important points for the Owls as he continued to add to his reputation of being Temple’s most clutch shooter. His three-pointer with 11:36 left in the game stopped a mini-run by the Bonnies and extended Temple’s lead to double digits at 51-40.

Brooks also took a charge from Malcom Eleby on a play that looked liked it was going to be an easy layup for the visitors.

“I think the charge take was big, we were fortunate to get that charge call,” said Dunphy. “The biggest shot he made and maybe the biggest shot of the game was they were hanging at eight and he stepped  up right in front of our bench and hit a big, big three to bump it out to eleven. He’s been doing that four a couple of years now. I don’t think there is any question that he is our best clutch performer.”

The ever-persistent Bonnies were able to cut the Owls’ lead to seven midway through the second half thanks to an extended  14-3 run. Their run fell apart after the team was whistled for two technical fouls in the span on two minutes – one on Jonathan Hall and the other on coach Mark Schmidt.

For the game the Bonnies committed 27 personal fouls to Temple’s 14 and saw three of their starts foul out. Maurice Thomas, Andrew Nicholson and Hall all saw their days cut short thanks to too many fouls.

Temple’s 18 made free-throws nearly doubled the total amount of foul shots that Saint Bonaventure took (10).

Nicholson, the Bonnies freshman phenom, played an especially disappointing game. The 6-9 forward out of Canada scored just 6 points, 7 under his season average, in only 15 minutes.

The freshman also came into the game ranked fifth nationally and second in the A-10 with an average of 3.1 blocks per game. He did collect any on Sunday.

Chris Matthews and Eleby were the leading scorers for Saint Bonaventure with 15 and 14 points respectively.

Eleby, a Philadelphia native and Franklin Learning Center product, also led the Bonnies with six assists and six steals.

Dunphy was clearly impressed with the way Saint Bonaventure, a team that has been down for several years, played.

“Saint Bonaventure has a plan,” said Dunphy. “How about how scary they are going to be in a couple of years? They have a lot of really good young players. [Mark Schmidt] has built a nice program. They’re going to get better and they may make some great noise in the Atlantic 10 tournament as well.”

Temple now owns a 49-6 all-time record against the Bonnies, including a perfect 25-0 in Philadelphia.

Saint Bonaventure will host Saint Louis on Wednesday night and the Owls will be visited by La Salle on Thursday night.

POST GAME AUDIO: (right click and save as.. if you have trouble opening)
Dionte Christmas and Lavoy Allen post game audio
Fran Dunphy Post Game Press Conference

February 19, 2009 | AP Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rob Diggs scored 26 points, and was one of five George Washington players in double figures in a 90-62 rout of St. Bonaventure on Thursday night.

Joseph Katuka added 13 points, Travis King and Damian Hollis had 12 apiece and Wynton Witherspoon chipped in with 10 for the Colonials (8-15, 2-9 Atlantic 10 Conference).

Michael Davenport led the Bonnies (13-12, 4-8) with 16 points and Malcolm Eleby added 11.

The Colonials opened the game on a 25-7 run, cruising to a 47-28 halftime lead. They put it away in the second, outscoring the Bonnies 43-34.

GW hit 10 of 12 from beyond the arc and 14 of 16 from the foul line in the win. The Bonnies were just 5 of 20 from 3-point range, while going 5-for-10 on free throws.

The Colonials have won two of their last four games after dropping 11 straight before this current streak.

February 14, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Maurice Thomas scored 18 points and had seven rebounds to lead St. Bonaventure over Massachusetts, 83-75, Saturday in Atlantic 10 conference play.

Chris Matthews also scored 18 points for St. Bonaventure (13-11, 4-7). Jonathan Hall scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds while Malcolm Eleby turned in 12 points and seven assists.

For Massachusetts (9-14, 4-6), Tony Gaffney scored a game-high 21 points and Ricky Harris scored 19. Chris Lowe and Luke Bonner added 13 and 11 points, respectively.

With Massachusetts leading 17-12, St. Bonaventure kicked off a 9-2 run with 13:06 left in the half to tie the game at 21. The contest stayed neck-and-neck until 2:24 remained in the game, when Matthews hit a 3-pointer to give the Bonnies a 75-73 lead. Andrew Nicholson followed up Matthews shot with a slam dunk that effectively put the game away for St. Bonaventure .

February 11, 2009 by Chris Frechette | A10CollegeHoops

KINGSTON, RI  – URI Coach Jim Baron said it best, “This was a tale of two half’s.”  That statement was as on the mark as a Jimmy Baron three pointer.  It appeared as if the teams traded uniforms in the locker room at halftime.

St. Bonaventure (12-11, 3-7 A-10) decimated the URI press en route to a 49-34 halftime lead.  The Rams looked good in the first five minutes of the game building an 8-5 lead with 15:24 remaining when Will Martell, URI’s 7 foot center, picked up his second foul and sent him to the bench with four points.  Not coincidentally St. Bonaventure went on a 9-2 run to make the score 14-10 Bonnies, with 13:53 left in the first half.  After trading buckets for the next minute and a half, the Bonnies made another run.  With 12:21 left in the half, St. Bonaventure went on an 8-0 run as Malcolm Eleby beat the Ram press for a layup, freshman Andrew Nicholson (19 points, 13 in the first half) chipped in his own layup and free throw as he was fouled by Delroy James, and Tyler Benson hit an open 3 pointer the next time down court with 11:08 left in the half to give the Bonnies a 27-18 lead.

St.Bonaventure Coach Mark Schmidt when asked on his teams first half, “I thought we played extremely well in the first half, we shot the ball, and shared the ball extremely well. We did well against their press and they backed off.”  And back off they did as URI abandoned the press after a layup by Jonathan Hall on a pass from Chris Matthews at the 9:56 mark which put the Bonnies up 32-20.

St. Bonaventure wasn’t done yet, as they closed out the last 4:47 of the first half with an 11-2 run with point contributions from five different players to build their halftime advantage to 49-34.

No doubt the Rams were embarrassed being down by 15 at home at halftime.  Said URI forward Kahiem Seawright, “Everybody saw the first half, it was disgusting, they got whatever they wanted, open threes, layups, they outrebounded us (19-11).”

URI guard Jimmy Baron put the first half in context, “We were embarrassed as a team on our first half play, a lot of mistakes, we were very emotional in the locker room, it was unacceptable, no excuses.  Our defense was not good in the first half and I think that was the biggest adjustment we made.”

Jim Baron, on what was said in the locker room at halftime, “We got some upperclassmen, and I talked to them about taking responsibility, they (St. Bonaventure) out-worked us in the first half and took it to us.  We came out flat and they took advantage of it.  You got to be ready for each team you play.”

Whatever was said at halftime, it worked as the Rams went on a 16-5 run at the beginning of the first half cutting their deficit to 54-50 at the 15:40 mark.  Ten of those points were scored by Jimmy Baron, who scored 23 of his game high 28 points in the second half despite playing with a sore back.  “It (my back) hurts, it’s sore, but once you step out onto the court; you can’t think about it”, said Jimmy Baron.

“Jimmy had a great game, he hasn’t practiced in the last two days, he was in the zone,” said Coach Baron.

Baron’s biggest shot of the game may have come at the 8:53 mark when, down 64-61, Baron dribbled the ball about ten feet past the top of the key, stopped, and popped a 30 foot three pointer to tie the game at 64-64.

“We knew he could shoot it from the CVS logo,” Schmidt said, referring to the CVS logo near midcourt on the Ryan Center floor, “he hit some tough shots and if you give him some easy ones he gets his rhythm.”

Asked about how he felt when he took that shot, Baron replied, “When you feel it, I can’t explain it, it just happens and when you’re at home, you spot up and let it go, you don’t think about it.”

And Jimmy Baron was feeling it, he hit a fadeaway three pointer to break a 66-66 tie and after a Delroy James steal the Rams regrouped and found Baron again for a three pointer to give Rhode Island (17-8, 6-4 A-10) a 72-68 lead.  James made another steal at midcourt and finished unabated to the hoop with a thunderous dunk which brought the 4,211 in attendance at the Ryan Center to its feet as the Bonnies called a timeout, down 74-68 with 2:39 left to play.

The closest the Bonnies would get was 85-80 after a three pointer by Tyler Benson, but with just 20 seconds left in the contest, it was too little too late.

Schmidt said, “It’s a disappointing loss as well as we played in the first half.  Ask any coach, the first five minutes of each half are critical.  We turned the ball over 12 times in second half, it’s hard to beat anybody.”

The turnover situation (St. Bonaventure 18, URI 10) was the difference in the game, the Bonnies shot the ball well (48% for the game compared to 46% for URI).  The difference was the Rams scored 24 points off of turnovers compared to 11 for St. Bonaventure.

Coach Baron was visually pleased with his teams second half performance, “It’s a tremendously positive sign. The comeback.  I’m real proud of how we fought back, this is an excellent win.  We forced turnovers and attacked the bucket in second half.  Our long term goal is to win the (Atlantic 10), but we want to get better too, each and every game, and I think we got better in the second half.”

That you did Coach Baron.  That you did.

February 7, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Chris Matthews scored 15 points Saturday to help St. Bonaventure beat La Salle, 72-67.

Malcolm Eleby’s 14 points and nine rebounds were both season highs for the Bonnies (12-10, 3-6 Atlantic 10). Jonathan Hall and Andrew Nicholson had 12 points and eight rebounds apiece, with Nicholson adding six blocks.

Kimmani Barrett and Rodney Green scored 13 points each for La Salle (12-10, 3-5 Atlantic 10). Ruben Guillandeaux had 12 points, Darryl Partin scored 11 and Jerrel Williams added eight points and 10 rebounds.

The Bonnies held a 12-point lead with 2:24 remaining, but a 3-pointer by Partin ignited a 10-1 La Salle run that cut the lead to 68-65. The Explorers threatened to take the lead, but a slam-dunk by Nicholson with 36 seconds remaining sealed the Bonnies’ victory.