Feb. 20, 2008

Game Notes

GAME DAY CENTRAL
DATE:Wednesday, February 20, 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
TALENT:Gary Nease (play-by-play)
Dr. John Watson (analyst)
WEB AUDIO & VIDEO: www.GoBonnies.com
SERIES: Temple leads, 47-6
UP NEXT:sunday, February 24, 2008
at UMass @ 2 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
St. Bonaventure will look to put an end to a three-game losing streak tonight as it welcomes Temple to the Reilly Center for the 54th meeting in series history. the owls are 2-3 on the road in Atlantic 10 play and will take on a Bona club that is 5-5 at home this season. the Bonnies are three games out of the 12th place and the final berth in this year's A-10 tournament. the owls currently sit in third place in the conference standings and with a win tonight can move into a tie for second with idle Saint Joseph's.

SERIES HISTORY
The owls hold a 47-6 advantage in the all-time series and have won nine straight and 12 out of the past 13 meetings. temple held a 24-game winning streak from the 1983-84 season until the Bonnies won in double overtime in 1995. every win the Bonnies have in the series have come at the Reilly Center. During the Owls' most recent winning streak, they have won by an average of 18 points per game. only 14 meetings between the two teams have been decided by 10 points or less, with 12 going in favor of temple.

THIS DAY IN BONA BASKETBALL
St. Bonaventure is 5-5 all-time when playing on February 20, dating back to the 1975-76 season in the Bona record books - the final season that has actual dates recorded. the Brown and White haven't played on Feb. 20 since 1999 where they came away with a convincing 71-54 win over Fordham at the Reilly Center. the win clinched a fourth place fi nish in the A-10 East Division as St. Bonaventure outscored the Rams 20-4 over the fi nal seven minutes. The Bonnies are 4-3 at home when playing on this date.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 7-17 (First Season)
Overall: 89-107 (7th Season)
Vs. Temple: 0-0

TEMPLE HEAD COACH
Fran Dunphy
@ Temple: 25-29 (second season)
Overall: 335-192 (19th season)
Vs. St. Bonaventure: 1-0

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Temple enters tonight's game in a tie for third place in the league standings with a 6-4 mark. the owls have endured plenty of dramatic endings in Atlantic 10 play with seven games decided by 10 points or less. Four of those seven contests have fi nished in Temple's favor, including a trio of overtime victories. the combination of Dionte Christmas and Mark tyndale ranks second amongst the top scoring tandems in the A-10 at 36.4 points per game. Christmas is second in the conference and 31st in the nation, as of Feb. 14, in scoring (20.2), while adding 6.3 boards per game. Christmas has scored in double fi gures in 51 of his last 54 games dating back to the start of his sophomore season and is tied for third with Michael Lee in 20-point efforts (13). An all-around contributor, tyndale leads the team in rebounding (6.4), assists (3.7) and steals (38). Under second year coach Fran Dunphy, temple has already surpassed its win total from last season (12) and equaled its A-10 wins (6).

LAST TIME OUT: BONNIES UPENDED BY GW
Led by four players in double fi gures, George Washington picked up its fi rst road win of the year as it defeated St. Bonaventure 80-71 on Saturday night on Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center. sophomore Damian Hollis, son of former Bona great essie Hollis, and senior Maureece Rice paced the Colonials with 17 points. It was an emotion-fi lled night for Hollis, who watched his father's and Earl Belcher's No. 25 be raised to the rafters of the RC prior to the game. Hollis added a team-high six rebounds and just missed scoring a career-high by one point. the combination of seniors Tyler Relph, Michael Lee and Zarryon Fereti accounted for 52 of st. Bonaventure's 71 points. All three fi nished in double fi gures, led by Relph's game and career-high 21. Relph became the fi rst Bonaventure player to lead the team in points, rebounds (8) and assists (5) in a game. Lee added 20 points and six boards for his 13th 20-point outing of the season. With the score tied at 10-10 in the early going, George Washington never trailed over the fi nal 34 minutes en route to its third consecutive win at the RC. the Colonials connected on a season-high 13 three-pointers and shot a blistering 55 percent (24-44) from the fl oor, including 62 percent (13-21) in the second half.

GOING OUT WITH A BANG
Senior Tyler Relph has been through and seen it all during his collegiate career. With the season winding down, Relph isn't leaving anything on the fl oor as he attempts to get the Bonnies into the Atlantic 10 Tournament. the former Mr. New York state award winner is in the midst of the best eight-game span of his career, averaging 14.0 points, 5.5 assists and 3.8 boards per game. During the past eight games, Relph has led the team in assists seven times, including the last four, scoring twice and is a perfect 25-of-25 from the free throw line. His six double fi gure outings are highlighted by a pair of 20-pont efforts and complimented by career-highs in both assists (9-twice) and rebounds (8 vs. GW). Last game against George Washington, Relph became the fi rst player this season to lead the team in points (21), rebounds (8) and assists (5) in the same game.

NO LONGER A FRESHMAN
So-called freshman Matt Morgan has turned the corner in his fi rst season in the Brown and White. Now with 22 games under his belt, Morgan looks as though he's made the adjustment to the collegiate game and coach Mark Schmidt and the Bonnies are reaping the benefi ts. The Handover, Md. product won back-to-back A-10 Rookie of the Week honors to start the month and is fourth on the team in both scoring (7.0) and rebounding (3.9) in conference play. over the last seven games, Morgan has scored in double fi gures four times and has more than tripled the amount of points over that span than he did in his fi rst 15 games.

TWO TYLER'S MAKE A RIGHT
In their nine 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 18.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game over the nine-game span. the most impressive statistic is their 1.72 (76/44) assist/turnover ratio. Benson has been the primary source to the positive assist/turnover ratio, dishing out 28 assists while committing just 10 turnovers. Relph has picked up the slack at the offensive end, collecting 11.8 points and 4.8 helpers per game.

SAVING HIS BEST FOR LAST
senior Michael Lee is having a career year in his fi nal season in the Brown and White. Lee leads the team nearly every statistical category, including scoring (17.1), rebounding (8.0) and steals (41). Lee and Rhode Island's Will Daniels are the only two players in the A-10 that rank in the top 10 in points per game, rebounds per game and fi eld goal percentage. Lee is tied for second in the league with seven doubles and third in 20-point games (13). He has also scored in double fi gures 19 times and has led the team in both scoring and rebounding 14 times. Below is a look at how Lee stacks up amongst the conference leaders.