Game 48: Men at St. Bonaventure

The men's team travels to Olean, NY to face St. Bonaventure (7-16, 1-8) tonight at the Reilly Center. GW (6-14, 2-8) is coming off of a 63-38 loss at Saint Louis on Wednesday night. In that one, Rob Diggs had 14 points, but the Billikens connected on 14 three-pointers, the most by a GW opponent this season. The Colonials were held to just 14-52 (26.9%) shooting from the field, including 3-16 (18.8%) from three-point land.

The Bonnies, who were picked to finish last out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, return two starters from the squad that went 7-22 and failed to qualify for the conference tournament. St. Bonaventure is led by 6-9 senior forward Michael Lee (17 points, eight rebounds per game this season), 6-3 senior guard Zarryon Fereti (14.4 points, four rebounds), and 6-0 senior guard Tyler Relph (9.6 points, 3.8 assists). Coach Mark Schmidt is in his first season with the Bonnies; he is 89-106 in seven seasons as a head coach. Schmidt came to Olean, NY after going 82-90 in seven seasons at Robert Morris.

St. Bonaventure is coming off of an 81-56 loss at St. Joseph's on Wednesday night. In that one, Fereti had 15 points, but the Hawks outscored the Bonnies 40-20 in the second half and limited the visitors to just 6-22 (27.3%) shooting from the field after intermission. St. Josephs' outrebounded St. Bonaventure 34-22 and shot 29-50 (58%) from the field for the game. The Bonnies come into this one having lost two-straight and eight of their last nine contests. St. Bonaventure is 5-4 at the Reilly Center this season.

This is the 51st-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 28-22. The last meeting came on January 13, 2007 at the Smith Center, which the Colonials won 80-63. In that one, four GW players reached double figures in scoring: Maureece Rice (14 points, four rebounds), Regis Koundjia (13 points, six rebounds), Dokun Akingbade (12 points, 11 rebounds), and Cheyenne Moore (10 points). The Colonials went 33-66 (50%) from the field and blocked six St. Bonaventure shots, including three by Diggs. #7/6 GW won the last meeting at the Reilly Center 89-78 on March 1, 2006. The Colonials have won four-straight in the series, but are 8-15 all-time at St. Bonaventure.

GW has yet to win away from the Smith Center. For some reason, I think this is the day, and I am reluctantly picking coach Karl Hobbs' team to keep its fading hopes of qualifying for the conference tournament alive.

Ben Toder and David Earl have the call for WRGW with Chase Carpenter and Sammy Gelfand handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 6.40 p.m. Our own Greg Shapiro will join Byron Kerr for the WFED broadcast. You can listen here starting at 6.50 p.m.

Game notes: This is Hobbs' 200th career game as a head coach...All 200 games have come while at GW...St. Bonaventure will retire the number of Essie Hollis, Damian's father, before today's game...Hollis led the Bonnies to the 1977 NIT title in his senior season, and ranks fifth in program history with 1,905 career points...GW has lost all 11 of its games away from the Smith Center this season...The Colonials are 11-19 in their last 30 games away from the Smith Center...The Colonials haven't won a road game in 354 days...The last was a 62-60 triumph at Charlotte on March 1, 2007...GW is just 2-4 when scoring at least 70 points...The Colonials were 16-1 when scoring at least 70 points last season...Coach Karl Hobbs has used 11 different starting lineups through 20 games...GW used just five different starting lineups in 32 games last season...This season, the backcourt accounts for only 35% of GW's points...Last season, the backcourt accounted for 54% of the Colonials' scoring...GW has six losses by 20 or more points this season...Over the first six years of the Hobbs era, the Colonials only suffered 10 losses by that margin...Over the last three games, Rice has just two points on 1-14 shooting from the field...Rice needs one three to tie Nimbo Hammons for seventh place in program history...Rice needs two threes to tie Dirkk Surles for sixth place in program history...Rice is averaging 10.7 points per game in three career games against the Bonnies...Hobbs is 5-1 against the Bonnies...GW is 1-3 this month, 2-4 on Saturdays, and 0-10 when allowing 70 points or more...The Colonials are 4-9 coming off of a loss...The Bonnies' last win over GW came on February 26, 2003 at the Reilly Center in overtime by a score of 94-89...This game features the teams with the most losses in A-10 conference play.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Reilly Center once we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 7.02 p.m. - I was just told by Joanna Shapes of The Hatchet that Miles Beatty has been suspended for today's game because he violated an unspecified team rule.

Update, 7.09 p.m. - St. Bonaventure fans received a warning for throwing confetti onto the court after the Bonnies' first basket. I am told that it is tradition in Olean. Here are the starting lineups:

GW
G - Johnny Lee (5-8 sophomore from Nashville, TN)
G - Maureece Rice (6-1 senior from Philadelphia, PA)
G - Xavier Alexander (6-6 freshman from Forest Park, OK)
F - Damian Hollis (6-8 sophomore from Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
F - Rob Diggs (6-8 junior from Brandywine, MD)

St. Bonaventure
G - Tyler Relph (6-0 senior from Victor, NY)
G - Zarryon Fereti (6-3 senior from New South Wales, Australia)
F - Tyler Benson (6-7 junior from Morgantown, WV)
F - Michael Lee (6-9 senior from West Palm Beach, FL)
F - D'Lancy Carter (6-10 junior from Houston, TX)

Update, 7.31 p.m. - Already three fouls on Carter with a little more than seven minutes remaining in the first half. Matt Morgan, the other matchup problem for the Colonials, has two fouls. The Bonnies appear to have no answer for Diggs in the post. Hollis has 10 points, Diggs has seven points, and Rice has six points on a pair of threes.

Update, 7.38 p.m. - Byron Kerr of WFED just said that Noel Wimore ran a players-only meeting at the hotel today. He has a pair of threes, and the Colonials lead 34-22 with 5.30 left in the first half.

Update, 7.44 p.m. - Assistant coach Greg Collucci just arrived at the Reilly Center; he was on a recruiting trip and was late in returning to Olean.

Update, 7.50 p.m. - GW leads 40-28 at the half. Only four Colonials scored in the first half: Hollis (14 points, four rebounds), Rice (11 points), Diggs (nine points, four rebounds), and Wilmore (six points, three rebounds). This is the first time GW has led at the half of a game away from the Smith Center this season.

Update, 8.14 p.m. - Maybe Wilmore will lead a team meeting before every game from here on in: back-to-back threes give the junior a game-high 15 points on 5-8 shooting from long distance. It's a 52-37 Colonials lead at the first media timeout of the second half.

Update, 8.42 p.m. - Nine unanswered St. Bonaventure points have cut GW's lead to 10 with 3.45 to play. Worth noting that Fordham's win over Massachusetts on Thursday night means that the Rams now lead GW by two games in the loss column in the race for the final spot in the A-10 Tournament. Not only does Fordham hold the tiebreaker over the Colonials, but the Rams still get both LaSalle and St. Bonaventure at home.

Update, 9.12 p.m. - The road losing streak finally comes to an end as GW wins it 80-71. Four Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Hollis (17 points, six rebounds), Rice (17 points), Wilmore (16 points, five rebounds), and Diggs (12 points, five rebounds, three blocks). The Bonnies cut it to seven late, but the Colonials hit their free throwns down the stretch to hold on for a rare road win. GW is still alive in the race to qualify for the A-10 Tournament, but they are still two games behind Fordham in the loss column with the Rams also owning the tiebreaker.

The men now have a week off before hosting Richmond on Saturday afternoon. We'll be back on Wednesday when the women host Saint Louis. As always, thanks for stopping by.