ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Eight teams descend upon the Boardwalk Hall with a spot in Saturday’s semi-final on the line. Pickin’ Splinters is court side with news, notes, updates and analysis. Grab a seat on the Pine and join in the discussion.
The afternoon session continues with #4 St. Bonaventure and #5 St. Joseph’s getting it on.
The Bonnies clinched a first-round bye with a double overtime victory over the Hawks nine days ago. Saint Joseph’s has won 19 of the last 21 vs. the Bonnies… The teams have met four times in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, with Saint Joseph’s owning a 3-1 record. The last meeting was in the 1997 tournament, when the Hawks scored a 75-59 win in the quarterfinals. SJU went on to win the A-10 title that year.
All‐Time Series: SJU 46-17
First Meeting: 3/15/58, SBU 79-75
Last Meeting: 2/29/12, SBU 98-93 (2ot)
Last SJU Win: 2/26/11, 79-65
Last SBU Win: 2/29/12, 98-93 (2ot)
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
Saint Joseph’s St. Bonaventure
Overall Record 20-12 17-11
Conference Record 9-7 10-6
Home Record 13-3 11-2
Away Record 5-8 6-8
Neutral Record 2-1 0-1
Points per Game 72.3 70.3
Opponent Points per Game 67.9 64.7
Field Goal Pct. .472 .456
Opponent Field Goal Pct. .397 .418
3Pt. Field Goals Made per Game 6.6 5.5
3Pt. Field Goal Pct. .364 .344
Opponent 3Pt. Field Goal Pct. .360 .324
Free Throws Made per Game 13.8 16.8
Free Throw Pct. .695 .762
Rebounds per Game 36.7 35.5
Opponent Rebounds per Game 34.8 30.0
Assists per Game 14.6 13.9
Turnovers per Game 13.0 14.5
Opponent Turnovers per Game 10.5 13.2
Blocks per Game 7.2 4.0
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Probable starters for the Bonnies:
Charlton Kloof, Jordan Gathers, Demitrius Conger, Da’Quan Cook and Andrew Nicholson.
St. Joe’s probable starters:
Halil Kanacevic, Daryus Quarles, C.J. Aiken, Langston Galloway, and Carl Jones.
U16 (15:14) SJU 10 SBU 9
Brother Beh! Great to see you on the Pine!
St. Joe’s has come out firing early, hitting 4 of 5.
The Bonnies are responding though. Cook had a great drive and dunk. We are calling it a mini-tomahawk dunk.
St. Joe’s leads 10-9.
First quote of the day:
As Andrew Nicholson was putting up a jumper, Marquise Simmons just yelled from the bench, “Pro Move!!! “. I don’t think he was getting many objections.
11-10, SBU.
Technical Foul on the Bonnies.
It appears to be an error on their score book. We are trying to find out more.
Just figured it the reason. Youssou Ndoye normally wears the #35, but entered the game wearing #21.
1 of 2 FTs.
St. Joe’s leads 16-11.
Media TO: St. Joe’s lead 16-13.
Interesting so stat early on.
St. Joe’s is 1 for 6 from behind the trifecta land. The Bonnies have yet to fire a 3 in this game.
U8 Media timeout
7:09 in first half. Bonnies’ Andrew Nicholson fouled driving to the hoop before TO, and will shoot 2.
21-19 St. Joe’s. #A10Tourney
U8 Media timeout
7:09 in first half. Bonnies’ Andrew Nicholson fouled driving to the hoop before TO, and will shoot 2.
21-19 St. Joe’s.
For the first half, it has been the Charlton Kloof show for the Bonnies.
St. Joe’s is living and dying by the three pointer. They are 3 for 11 right now.
All tied up, 25-25.
Nicholson with the thunderous dunk.
Ndoye playing a little, “Return to Sender” music.
The Bonnies big men are very active right now.
St. Joe’s leads 28-27.
Bonnies with back to back dunks by Ndoye and Conger.
St. Joe’s calls timeout.
Bonnies lead 33-30 with less than a minute to go.
Halftime SBU 33 SJU 30
Bonnies outrebounded SJU 49-30 on February 29th when SBU won in 2OT. Trend continues today with SBU leading 21-10 at half. SJU scored 8 points off turnovers in the first 10 minutes – one point since. Nicholson leads with 12 points and Kloof has nine, but YOussou Ndoye is the difference right now. Ndoye has eight rebounds and 2 blocks.
Daryus Quarles has 10 for SJU going 2-of-3 behind the arc.
A couple more stats for you:
St. Joe’s has turned the ball over just one time in the first half.
Bonnies turned the ball over 7 times. In their previous meeting, they turned the ball over just 9 times in a double overtime game.
Bonnies hold a 24-10 advantage for points in the paint.
St. Joe’s missing a lot of shots?
Bonnies big men too tough??
Second half has brought back and forth action. So far we have had 6 lead changes.
Carl Jones and Charlton Kloof were battling it out for awhile.
Nicholson has looked dominant.
Bonnies lead 43-42.
U16 (14:29) SBU 43 SJU 42
Bonnies 19-of34 from floor.
SJU 6-of-15 behind arc.
Dan! Great to see you on the Pine!
Address unknown. Nicholson monster block of Aiken two-handed dunk attempt.
Bonnies continue attacking the paint.
Bonnies are continuing to attack the post. They now have a 38-14 advantage in the paint.
Bonnies are 8 for 12 in the second half.
Bonnies lead 49-43.
49-44 SBU with 11:27 to go.
With 10:03 left in the second half, the Bonnies have 7 fouls.
St. Joe’s will be shooting free throws from here on in.
8:24 left, St. Joe’s just picked up their 7th foul and both teams will be shooting FTs the rest of the way.
These teams had to go 2 OT in the regular season. Is it any surprise that we are at it again??
St. Joe’s now leads 57-56.
Unofficial stat – 9 lead changes in this half.
Make that 10, SBU up 58-57.
11 lead changes. SJU 59-58.
That lead change total is now up to 12.
Bonnies TO with the ball. St. Joe’s has a 61-60 lead with 5:02 to play.
We are in for a great finish!
I have officially, unofficially lost track of the number of lead changes.
Bonnies, c’mon. Let’s get the job done!
A Nicholson short jumper. A block by Conger. A layup by Conger.
Bonnies are in front 64-61 with 4:08 timeout.
Coach Martelli wants a timeout to talk about it.
Bonnies score 4 straight after TO.
Answer? 3 by Kloof.
Response? 3 by Jones.
This game continues to go back and forth. TO for everyone to catch their breath as the Bonnies lead 67-66.
For the Bonnies it was their first three ball of the game (1 for 8).
Tied at 68 with 1:40 to go.
Foul on Kanacevic. That is his 5th and he is done.
Nicholson is going to the line for a pair.
We are all tied. 68-68.
Nicholson hits one of two.
Jones misses a jumper at the other end.
Bonnies have a timeout. 50.4 seconds to play and Bonnies lead 69-68.
Nicholson draws the offensive charge. Bonnies have the ball back with 24 seconds to go.
Bonnies lead 69-68.
Kloof is fouled and hits 1 of 2 free throws.
Bonnies lead 70-68 with 14.1 seconds.
Timeout St. Joe’s.
All down to this…
Nicholson blocks Jones’ shot and with .6 seconds to go, Wright will shoot 2.
Looking pretty good for the Bonnies right now.
BONNIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Bonnies and Hawks. What a game!
It is a final!!
Bonnies win 71-68 and move on to the A-10 semi-finals.
They will face UMass in the semi-finals tomorrow afternoon.
A great game by both teams.
Two more games to go today and I am not sure Pickin’ Splinters can handle this.
Wait.. yes, I can.
A big thank you to Casey, Smitty & Pickin’ Splinters for your coverage!