Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
After a come-from-behind win over George Mason on Thursday, the No. 13 seed St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team squares off with the No. 4 seed Dayton University in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship Friday.
Dayton is making its first appearance in this season’s A-10 Tournament after receiving a double-bye to the quarterfinals. The Flyers closed the regular season winning six of their final seven games but are coming off a 68-62 loss to VCU in their regular season finale.
The lone meeting between the two programs this season ended in a 72-70 Flyers win on Feb. 3 in Dayton. Senior guard Javon Bennett lifted the Flyers to a win with a game-high 20 points.
Bennett, a member of the All-Atlantic 10 First Team, leads Dayton (21-10, 12-6 A-10) with 15.9 points per game. Junior guard De’Shayne Montgomery, who was named to the third team, averages 14.0 points per game, and sophomore forward Amaël L’Etang averages 12.3 points and a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game.
Senior forward Frank Mitchell paces Bonaventure (17-16, 4-14 A-10), averaging 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. A member of the conference’s third team, Mitchell’s 19 double-doubles rank fourth in the nation, and he leads the country with 4.4 offensive rebounds per game.
Junior guard Darryl Simmons II averages 16.2 points per game, and senior guard Cayden Charles gives the Bonnies 13.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa. and will be broadcast live on USA Network and the Bonnies Online Network.
