Bonnies non-conference schedule

[Chuck]

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Bonnies Athletics Men's Basketball


Paul Williams and the Bonnies will play six non-conference games at home this coming season.


Men's basketball non-conference schedule is set

Bonnies' total of 14 home games will be their most since 1990-91

July 27, 2006

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Six home games, the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic and a meeting with Syracuse in the Carrier Dome highlight St. Bonaventure's 13-game 2006-07 men's basketball non-conference schedule.

Fourth-year coach Anthony Solomon's team could potentially play four teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last season.

As was previously announced, the Bonnies will open the season in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. The Bonnies will play two games in the regional round of the tournament at the Erwin Center on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. St. Bonaventure will face Chicago State on Nov. 9, then play either Texas or Alcorn State on Nov. 10. Last season, Texas made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and finished 30-7.

St. Bonaventure will play 2006 NCAA Tournament participants Syracuse, Albany and Hampton. The Syracuse contest is the Bonnies' final game before the start of the Atlantic 10 Conference schedule and will be played on Saturday, Dec. 30, at the Carrier Dome. Hampton, which won the 2006 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament, will visit the Reilly Center on Dec. 20. The Bonnies will travel to play at Albany on Dec. 16.

In addition to the meeting with Hampton, St. Bonaventure's home slate includes Central Arkansas, Niagara, Boston University, Ohio University and Wright State. The home opener is Tuesday, Nov. 14, against Central Arkansas, which went 18-10 last season. Longtime rival Niagara comes to the Reilly Center the week after Thanksgiving on Wednesday, Nov. 29. That game is the opener of a four-game homestand. Boston U. will play in the RC on Dec. 2, Ohio visits on Dec. 6 and Wright State is at the RC on Dec. 9.

The remainder of St. Bonaventure's road games are Canisius (Dec. 23 at the Koessler Center), Saint Francis of Pa. (Nov. 20) and Central Connecticut State (Nov. 25).





The six non-conference home games coupled with the eight to-be-announced Atlantic 10 Conference home dates gives St. Bonaventure a total of 14 regular season games at its Reilly Center - the most since the 1990-91 season, when the Bonnies enjoyed 16 games in the Reilly Center.

"Certainly the most exciting part of our non-conference schedule is the chance to play six times in the Reilly Center against quality programs that will challenge our team," said Solomon. "Re-establishing our home court advantage has been a priority I have talked about often. We did a good job last season at home (the Bonnies were 5-0 in non-conference games at the RC last year) and we are focused on carrying that over to this year.

"We also are excited to start the season in the 2K Sports Classic in Texas, and we have challenging road games throughout the rest of our pre-conference schedule," he continued. "All in all, we are thrilled with the makeup of our schedule. We know that these 13 games will test us and ultimately prepare us for the rigors of the Atlantic 10."

The Atlantic 10 Conference schedule will be released in September. St. Bonaventure will face Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, LaSalle, Richmond, Saint Louis, Saint Joseph's and Xavier at home but the dates have not been announced.



2006-07 SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Location TV Time
Sat., Nov. 4 Gannon (exhibition) Reilly Center TBA
Thu., Nov. 9 Chicago State Austin, Texas (Erwin Center) TBA
Fri., Nov. 10 2K Sports Classic Austin, Texas (Erwin Center) TBA
Tue., Nov. 14 Central Arkansas Reilly Center 7:00 PM
Mon., Nov. 20 St. Francis (PA) Loretto, Pa. 7:00 PM
Sat., Nov. 25 CCSU New Britian, Conn. TBA
Wed., Nov. 29 Niagara Reilly Center 7:00 PM
Sat., Dec. 2 Boston University Reilly Center 7:00 PM
Wed., Dec. 6 Ohio Reilly Center 7:00 PM
Sat., Dec. 9 Wright State Reilly Center 7:00 PM
Sat., Dec. 16 Albany Albany, N.Y. TBA
Wed., Dec. 20 Hampton Reilly Center 7:00 PM
Sat., Dec. 23 Canisius Buffalo, N.Y. (Koessler Center) TBA
Sat., Dec. 30 Syracuse Carrier Dome TBA

[rimRocka44]

I'll start it off and say 10-3. Losses coming Texas (although the upset would be a great Birthday present), Albany and Syracuse.

I think this schedule is respectable and in line with "Moving Forward".

[B02]

If the team is better as the coaching staff and players seem to believe, I wouldn't say you are very far off in that prediction. I would have to think the Paul Williams and Mike Lee front court will have fun with this schedule. It will also allow the newcomers to get some time and mesh with the rest of the team.

[sireltonruddock]

10-3.

I like this schedule a lot. It fits to our program's needs. A few very nice challenges along with some winnable home/away games.

Why in hell are we playing Canisius in Koessler, though? I thought that game was going to be played in HSBC?

Free Peach.

[West End Stench]

10-3 is wishful thinking. This is a great schedual though, Coach Tony is keen enough to recognize the importance of playing in front of a raucous student body.

I say 9-4... I'd be thrilled if we won more than 2 games away from the RC with this kind of competition.

I hope for key wins over Niagara and Albany, an upset over Syracuse, and a Christmas-Eve-Eve embarrassment of Canisius at the Koessler. Lets bring the WNY/Upstate basketball crown back to Olean.

[B02]

Syracuse is very underrated this year.... They have arguably one of the top 5 freshmen in the country in manchild Paul Harris.

[FriendsofAN44]

How can they schedule a game on Festivus ?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

[mangham]

i'll bring the pole! I find tinsle distracting!

top 5 episodes
1. Bizzaro Jerry
2. Strike
3. Dealership
4. soup Nazi
5. Merv Griffin set

agree?

[MrSmiff]

I want Bona91 1 on 1 for the Feats on Strength on Festivus

[ceharv]

The seasons seem to be starting earlier and earlier - we'll have 4 games in before T-day, and I can never remember a regular season starting in the single digits of november. I presume this is intentianal - it's a good idea with a team with so many newcomers to have so much time before the A-10 season starts to look at film of real games and to work on getting all these new players to mesh. Also, altho I'm not sure about the exact holiday breaks, but it looks like maybe no home games with the students away - maybe one at most.

[DemBonnies]

ceharv said:

The seasons seem to be starting earlier and earlier - we'll have 4 games in before T-day, and I can never remember a regular season starting in the single digits of November.

Harv----I was just speaking to an old high school friend who was on the Peach Basket Committee for many years.

The Peach Basket basically ran the Tip-Off Classic which benefited the Basketball Hall of Fame. It regularly featured such powers as Duke, Wake, UNC, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona, GTech and UMass ,from the Calipari years. It was almost always a sell out (Spfld Civic Ctr is only about 8 or 9 thou) as it held the distinction of being the first game of the season, It attracted some big names year after year.

It was a one game event which was to be the "Tip-Off" to the college hoop season and was held Thanksgiving Weekend. Well along came the Rainbow Classic, The San Juan Shootout, Great Alaska Shootout etc and pretty soon these tourneys were two weeks ahead of the Tip-Off.

The Hoop Hall sought an exemption from the max number of games an NCAA team could play for the T-O hoping they could entice the marquee teams back to Springfield and the NCAA shot them down. The tournament is dead and gone now.

Imagine the first game of the whole college season some 30 years ago was end of November and now we'll have 4 under our belt by then.

[Swede]

Don't forget...if we get by Chicago State and Texas, we will have two more game before Thanksgiving...November 16 and 17 at MSG.

[sireltonruddock]

dembonnies said:

ceharv said:

The seasons seem to be starting earlier and earlier - we'll have 4 games in before T-day, and I can never remember a regular season starting in the single digits of November.

Harv----I was just speaking to an old high school friend who was on the Peach Basket Committee for many years.

Did someone say Peach?

[LumsdnA10Academc98]

Looks like we'll be battling holidy traffic on both Christmas and New Year's Eve. I hope the December 23 game at Canisius starts no earlier than 4:00, though a 1:00 start would make much more sense from a travel standpoint.

The real issue here is why we're playing at the Koessler Center on December 23. I realize it's unrealistic to expect Canisius to meet us at HSBC in return for trips to the RC, but if we're going to play in their high school gym, which is fine, can we please play on a date that makes sense? Is it convenient for anybody to play anywhere December 23? No. Will you generate interest in a regional rivalry playing December 23? No. For the rivalry's sake, their students are going to be there, right? No.

Also, say what you want about Solomon, but the guy's smart (assuming the 12/23 deal wasn't his idea). Realizing he's on the hot seat and is being judged by overall wins, what better way to boost your win total than to play more games? By getting in the NCAA-expmpt Texas tournament, he's guaranteed to add at least one more win, while also gaining exposure against a perrenial powerhouse.

With almost everyone in agreement that this year is pivotal to Solomon's future, I think the quality of this schedule speaks volumes as to how good our staff thinks this team can be. The pushovers on this schedule are few and far in between, and our staff thinks we can beat teams like Albany, Boston, Ohio and CCSU, which we should. I like that confidence.

[bva]

Dec. 23 makes great sense from a logistical standpoint; the kids will already be in Buffalo to fly home for the holiday!