January 31, 2009 | AP Press

PITTSBURGH, PA – Aaron Jackson scored 19 points and Duquesne capitalized on 31 turnovers to rally past St. Bonaventure 74-68 Saturday.

Bill Clark scored 17 points, Eric Evans added 14 and Damian Saunders 11 for Duquesne (14-6, 5-2 Atlantic 10), which is off to its best overall and conference start since the 1980-81 season.

The 1981 Dukes opened 14-6 and 5-2 on the way to a 20-10 record and 10-3 finish, which was good enough for a tie for the Eastern 8 title.

Andrew Nicholson shot 13-for-18 and finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds for St. Bonaventure (12-9, 2-6), which committed three crucial turnovers in the final 2:30. Chris Matthews added 12 points, and Jonathan Hall had 12 rebounds and 11 points.

The Bonnies led by a point, 40-39, at the break and held a five-point lead, 63-58, with 5:29 remaining.

Duquesne went on a 8-3 run to tie the score at 66 with 3:15 left, and the teams tied again at 68 with 2:07 remaining before the Dukes broke loose.

Evans dropped in a layup, Saunders added two free throws, and Evans added another pair in Duquesne’s decisive 6-0 run in the final minutes.

January 28, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Jio Fontan scored a career-high 25 points to lead Fordham over St. Bonaventure 67-65 Wednesday in an Atlantic 10 nail-biter.

Chris Bethel recorded 15 points and seven rebounds for the Rams, and Trey Blue added 12 points.

For the Bonnies, Andrew Nicholson and Jonathan Hall scored 16 points apiece. Chris Matthews scored 12 points, and Maurice Thomas contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The game was neck-and-neck from start to finish, featuring seven lead changes and seven ties.

The teams had the score knotted at 65 when Blue scored with 55.2 remaining. Hall missed his shot at the other end, and the Bonnies didn’t score again.

Bonnies guard Malcolm Eleby had a chance to tie the game at 67 but missed a wide-open layup opportunity and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, both with under 5 seconds to play.

January 25, 2009 | AP Press

DAYTON, OH — Chris Wright scored 19 points and Chris Johnson added 17 as Dayton beat St. Bonaventure 80-68 Sunday afternoon to win their 14th straight at home.

Dayton (18-2, 4-1 Atlantic 10) went in front for good during a 14-1 first half run that featured a Rob Lowery 3-pointer and ended with a dunk from Wright that put the Flyers ahead 30-20 with 4:03 left in the half.

Dayton scored nine straight points early in the second when Lowery hit another 3-pointer, Wright dunked and Marcus Johnson followed with two dunks of his own to put Dayton up 43-28 with 16:26 left. St. Bonaventure (11-8, 2-4) would only get as close as eight the rest of the way.

Chris Matthews scored 28 points, including eight 3-pointers, and Jonathan Hall added 12 for the Bonnies, which lost for the first time on the road this season.

Lowery and Marcus Johnson each finished with 15 points for Dayton.

January 21, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — C.J. Anderson scored 15 points and Xavier (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 AP), off to the second-best start in school history, beat St. Bonaventure 84-64 on Wednesday night.

Backup guard Brad Redford hit his first three 3-point attempts to spark a decisive first-half run and finished with 14 points for Xavier (16-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10). The Musketeers, who have won seven straight since losing consecutive games to Duke and Butler, are off to their best start since going 24-2 in 1989-90.

Freshman forward Andrew Nicholson scored 13 for St. Bonaventure (11-7, 2-3), which has lost four in a row at home. Maurice Thomas added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Bonnies, who have lost eight straight to the Musketeers and 13 in a row against ranked opponents.

The Musketeers improved to 17-1 against conference opponents dating to last season, and are closing in on their 13th 20-win season in 14 years, and fourth straight.

Ahead 23-20, the Musketeers took control during the final 4 minutes of the first half by outscoring the poor-shooting Bonnies 18-2. The run was capped by Terrell Holloway, who hit an open 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Xavier finally found its offensive rhythm, courtesy of a fast-paced transition game, which took advantage of St. Bonaventure missing 11 of its final 14 attempts of the half. And it wasn’t as if Xavier’s tough defense was all that dominant, because the Bonnies missed several open looks outside and shots from in close.

Xavier’s defense, which is limiting opponents to 37 percent shooting, did have its moments.

The turning point came with just under 4 minutes left in the first half when Anderson blocked Jonathan Hall’s shot from the paint, leading directly to Redford hitting a 3-pointer on the break to give Xavier a 29-20 lead. The rout was on a few minutes later when, during a 26-second span, Jason Love hit a hook shot from the paint and Dante’ Jackson a 3 in transition.

After hitting four of its first six attempts, St. Bonaventure went cold, finishing 21-of-50 from the field.

The resurgent Bonnies, who have already won their most games since 2001-02, lacked the bodies and veteran talent to keep up with the deep Musketeers. Starting point guard Malcolm Eleby got into early foul trouble and played only 10 minutes in the first half. The Bonnies were already without his backup, dependable Ray Blackburn, who missed his second consecutive game and is out indefinitely with a torn knee ligament.

January 17, 2009 | AP Press

RICHMOND, VA — Maurice Thomas led the Bonnies with a career-high 25 points and St. Bonaventure rallied to beat Richmond 71-67 on Saturday night.

Thomas also had 11 rebounds for the Bonnies (11-6, 2-2 Atlantic 10 Conference). Jonathan Hall scored 15 points, Chris Matthews had 13 and Andrew Nicholson added 12 in the win.

Richmond (9-8, 1-1) led 67-60 following Kevin Anderson’s three-pointer with 2:54 left. But St. Bonaventure went on an 11-0 run to end the game, taking a 69-67 lead on Jonathan Hall’s three-point play with 23.6 seconds left. Chris Matthews got a steal and pair of free throws with 3 seconds remaining.

Anderson led the Spiders with 15 points. Ryan Butler added 14, while Francis Cedric Martel and Justin Harper had 13 apiece.

January 14, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Ahmad Nivins scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Saint Joseph’s to a 62-51 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday in Atlantic 10 play.

Idris Hilliard scored a game-high 17 points for the Hawks (8-7, 2-0). Darrin Govens scored 11 points and had eight rebounds, while Tasheed Carr kicked in eight points.

Andrew Nicholson scored a team-high 12 points for the Bonnies (10-6, 1-2), whose 51 points marked a season-low. Jonathan Hall added 10 points and seven rebounds. Maurice Thomas and Chris Matthews scored nine and eight points, respectively.

The Bonnies cut the lead to four with 13:11 left to play, but Saint Joseph’s responded immediately with a 24-8 run to extend the lead to a game-high 20 points. The Bonnies never regained control as the Hawks cruised to an easy victory down the stretch.

The Hawks outrebounded the Bonnies by 20.

January 10, 2009 | AP Press

OLEAN, N.Y. — Bill Clark scored 24 points, leading Duquesne to a 98-80 win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday.

Aaron Jackson scored 20 points, while Melquan Bolding scored 16. Eric Evans chipped in 14 points for the Dukes (11-4, 2-0 Atlantic 10), while Jason Duty added 13.

Andrew Nicholson scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bonnies (10-5, 1-1). Jonathan Hall added 14 and had six assists. Tyler Benson scored 10 points.

Duquesne never trailed, taking a 44-32 halftime lead after a 10-0 run.

Duquesne shot 50 percent from the field and was 13-of-27 on 3 pointers.

St. Bonaventure shot 45.9 percent from the field and was 6-of-16 from beyond the arc.

January 7, 2009 | AP Press

NEW YORK, NY — Chris Matthews scored 15 points and all five St. Bonaventure starters scored in double figures as the Bonnies remained unbeaten on the road this season with a 78-65 victory over Fordham on Wednesday night.

Jonathan Hall added 14 points for the Bonnies (10-4, 1-0 Atlantic 10), while Maurice Thomas, Andy Nicholson and Malcolm Eleby all had 13.

St. Bonaventure improved to 6-0 on the road this season, breaking a tie for the best start away from home with the 1967-68 team that was led by sophomore Bob Lanier.

Jio Fontan had 22 points, 18 in second half for the Rams (2-11, 0-1).

Fontan’s 3 with 1:38 left brought Fordham within 68-63, but Matthews added four free throws the rest of the way and the Rams got no closer.

January 3, 2009 | AP Press

CONWAY, Ark. — Jonathan Hall and Ray Blackburn each scored 14 points to help St. Bonaventure to a 68-58 victory Saturday over Central Arkansas.

The Bonnies (9-4) shot 20 of 24 from the line (83.3 percent) and outrebounded the Bears (6-6) 45-31, including 13 offensive rebounds. Hall made 10 rebounds and Blackburn grabbed seven.

Central Arkansas fell behind in the opening minute of the game and never gained a lead. UCA got to within three points, 29-26, early in the second half, then closed it to 41-34 with 10:20 remaining.

Mike Pouncy scored 15 points for the Bears. Mitch Rueter and Marcus Pillow each added 10.

December 30, 2008 | AP Press

LEWISBURG, PA — Freshman center Andrew Nicholson had 22 points, eight rebounds and nine blocked shots for St. Bonaventure in a 90-82 double-overtime win against Bucknell on Tuesday night.

Chris Matthews added 18 points, Jonathan Hall had 17 and 16 from Ray Blackburn had 16 for the Bonnies (8-4).

Justin Castleberry scored a game-high 23 points and Bryan Cohen added 19 for Bucknell, but the Bison fell to 3-9 on the season after having chances to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime.

The Bison made only 6 of 27 first-half shots, fell behind 34-20 at the half. But they hit 7 of 12 3-pointers after halftime and came all the way back, even taking the lead in the final minute.

St. Bonaventure outscored Bucknell 12-4 in the second overtime, as the Bison made only 2 of 10 shots.

With the game tied at 80, Blackburn put the Bonnies up with a spinning shot in the lane, then the Bison missed their next four shots and the visitors took control from the free throw line.