Photo: Frank DeBari / The Bona Venture
By: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
Thursday will mark the third meeting this season between the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team and the George Mason University Patriots. This time, the season will be on the line in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
The No. 13 seed Bonnies (16-16, 4-14 A-10) advanced to Thursday’s game after a 99-80 win over La Salle University in the first round Wednesday afternoon. Junior guard Darryl Simmons II led the way wih 21 points as five Bonnies scored in double figures in the win.
The No. 5 seed Patriots (23-8, 11-7 A-10) enter the A-10 Tournament in the second round after recieving a first-round bye. They closed the regular season with a 86-57 throttling of Saint Louis University, the top seed in the A-10 Tournament this week.
George Mason swept the two regular season meetings between the two A-10 rivals. A second-half comeback powered by junior guard Kory Mincy lifted the Patriots to a 77-73 win in the Reilly Center on Jan. 31. The Patriots led wire-to-wire for a 71-58 win at home on Feb. 28. led by 21 points each from junior forward Riley Allenspach and senior guard Masai Troutman.
Mincy and Allenspach have paced the George Mason offense all season long, averaging 14.3 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. Both were named to the All-Atlantic 10 Second Team. Graduate guard Jahari Long adds 11.6 points and a team-high 4.0 assists per game.
Simmons, complemented by senior forward Frank Mitchell have been Bonaventure’s two-headed monster this season. Simmons leads the team, averaging 16.5 points per game, while Mitchell averages 16.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Mitchell, named to the All-Atlantic 10 Third Team, ranks fourth in the nation with 19 double-doubles on the season, and leads the country in offensive rebounds per game.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. Thursday and will be broadcast live on USA Network and the Bonnies Online Network. The winner will advance to play the No. 4 seed Dayton University in the quarterfinals on Friday.
