Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: SEAN WALLACE; SPORTS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
No. 13 St. Bonaventure University (15-16, 4-14 A-10) faces No. 12 La Salle University (9-22, 5-13 A-10) in the first round of the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
Bonaventure Head Coach Mark Schmidt announced on Saturday he will retire following the conclusion of the season after 19 years with the program.
Schmidt retires as the winningest coach in program history with 339 wins, three NCAA Tournament appearances and three NIT appearances. He led Bonaventure to two A-10 regular-season titles and the program’s only two tournament titles. He earned A-10 Coach of the Year honors in 2016 and 2021, and he recorded 20 or more wins in seven seasons, including three of his last five.
La Salle has never reached the conference championship game in its 30 seasons in the A-10. It advanced to the semifinals in 2002. Last season, No. 14 La Salle fell to No. 6 Saint Joseph’s University 75-70 in the second round.
The Explorers defeated the Bonnies 78-74 at home on Jan. 17. They lead the all-time series 22-18 and have won four of the last five meetings. The Bonnies’ last win came in a 75-73 victory in the 2024 A-10 Tournament.
The Bonnies lost eight of their final 10 games, including a 68-63 home loss to Davidson College in their regular-season finale.
Bonaventure ranks second in the conference in 3-point field-goal percentage, assists and blocked shots, shooting 36.8% from beyond the arc, averaging 15.9 assists per game and recording 4.7 blocks per game.
Senior forward Frank Mitchell leads the Bonnies in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
The Explorers lost nine of their final 11 games, including an 88-76 road loss to Saint Joseph’s in their regular-season finale.
La Salle ranks third in the conference in offensive rebounding, averaging 12.1 per game. The Explorers sit last in the conference in scoring average, field-goal percentage and opponent field-goal percentage. They average 66.7 points per game, shoot 40.9% from the field and allow opponents to shoot 46.1%.
Graduate student guard Jaeden Marshall leads the Explorers in scoring, averaging 12 points per game.
The game will air on USA Network and be broadcast live on the Bonnies Online Network.
