This week's stories:
Bonnies shoot down Owls
By Matt Dougherty Instead of cookies, the Bonnies threw three after three at head coach John Chaney and the Temple Owls and cruised to a 93-74 win on Wednesday in front of a sold out crowd of 6,000 at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies set a school record and tied an Atlantic 10 record with 19 three pointers, breaking the school record of 16 set Dec. 20 against Siena. Senior guard J.R. Bremer led the way with 28 points on five three-pointers, while junior guard Patricio Prato tied a school record eight three-pointers and finished with a career high 25 points for the game. "It was a good team effort, we have a lot of people that can score and we had that balance tonight," said Prato. Head coach Jan van Breda Kolff was also pleased with the team's overall performance. "A lot of guys did some great things to help us win," van Breda Kolff said. "Any shot that is in rhythm is a good shot, and Patricio Prato had a real good rhythm tonight." Bremer also said that Prato's contributions were key to the Bonnies' victory. "He was hitting his shot, he got on fire and hit a big three in the second half," Bremer said. The Bonnies hit 13 three-pointers in the first half and built a 53-38 lead at the break. They nailed six three-pointers in the early going and took a 24-9 lead with 11:57 to go in the first half, and Temple never closed to within single digits after that point. Temple cut the lead to 71-60 with 9:15 remaining in the second half. However, a thunderous dunk by senior forward Vidal Massiah excited the crowd and started the Bonnies on a 14-0 run over the next five minutes to build an 85-60 lead. Sophomore guard Marques Green had 13 points and 10 assists, while Massiah and freshman guard Mike Gansey both scored nine points. In addition to the three-point barrage, the Bonnies also passed well, totaling 25 assists with only three turnovers. "We talked about being strong with the ball and having good spacing," van Breda Kolff said. "We did that and we didn't have many turnovers." Chaney said that the play of Green was key to the Bonnies' ballhandling. "He splits you and finds all the holes and gets the ball where it needs to go," Chaney said. The Bonnies shot 49 percent (32-for-65) for the game and hit for 19-39 three-pointers. They won the rebounding battle 34-31, getting 10 rebounds from Prato and eight from senior forward Robert Cheeks. Chaney said the Bonnies' offensive display was one of the most impressive he has seen in years. "No defense that we used could stop them," Chaney said. "They're a tournament team, they're probably better offensivley than the last team," (the Bonnies' 1999-2000 NCAA Tournament team). Junior forward David Hawkins had 25 to lead the Owls, while senior guard Lynn Greer had 18. The Bonnies' next game is at home tomorrow, with a 2 p.m. start against Duquesne. The team hopes to keep up the momentum for that game. "Hopefully we can get some more efforts like tonight," Prato said. The Bonnies fell 93-87 to St. Joseph's on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Fieldhouse. The Bonnies fell behind 50-40 at halftime, but came out with a 25-11 run to take a 65-61 lead midway into the second half. However, the Hawks went on an 11-0 run and extended the lead to 82-71 with 5:07 to play. The Bonnies committed 19 turnovers on the day while St. Joseph's had only 12 turnovers. "We didn't execute very well," van Breda Kolff said. "To have 19 turnovers is disappointing. It wasn't as if we were throwing the ball away-(the turnovers) were mostly traveling calls or charges." Green led the Bonnies with 23 points, while Bremer had 22.
SBU tops Connecticut, Rhode Island over winter break
By Matt Dougherty An 18-point win over Big East powerhouse Connecticut highlighted the Bonnies Winter Break, as they compiled a 4-2 record while students were home. Senior guard J.R. Bremer scored 33 points and sophomore guard Marques Green had 17 points, eight assists and six steals to lead the Bonnies to an 88-70 win over UConn on Dec. 28 at the Hartford Civic Center. The Bonnies opened Atlantic 10 play with a 2-1 record, dropping their first game at George Washington before coming back with wins over Rhode Island and La Salle. Bremer scored seven of his game-high 23 points during the final 30 seconds of a 68-62 win at La Salle. The Bonnies forced 19 La Salle turnovers and came up with 12 steals. They also grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. The Bonnies only shot 38 percent (24-for-63) from the field for the game. "We played our game. We didn't shoot well, but we just kept shooting and got the job done," said Bremer. The Bonnies defeated former head coach Jim Baron and the Rhode Island Rams 96-74 in the A-10 home opener on Jan. 6. Bremer scored a career-high 35 points, 29 of which came in the first half. Freshman guard Mike Gansey scored 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting from three-point range, and Green recorded a career-high 11 assists. "J.R. played aggressive and focused and shot really, really well. He's a competitor," said head coach Jan van Breda Kolff. The Bonnies dropped their A-10 opener 92-86 to George Washington on Jan. 3 at the Smith Center. George Washington senior center Jaason Smith had career highs with 22 points and 14 rebounds, and freshman guard T.J. Thompson had 21 points on 6-for-7 from three-point range. The Bonnies shot just 38 percent from the floor (28-for-74) and only hit on nine of 37 three-point shots, a season-low of 24 percent. "We have good shooters but for whatever reason we just didn't knock down shots tonight," van Breda Kolff said. "We had opportunities early that we didn't convert and that kind of set the tone." On Dec. 31 at Kent State, the Bonnies staged a second half comeback to send the game to overtime, but fell 93-82. The Bonnies trailed 71-62 before rallying to take a 74-73 lead on senior forward Vidal Massiah's three-pointer with 1:27 to play. After Kent State regained the lead at 75-74, Bremer hit one of two foul shots and the game went to overtime tied at 75. However, in the extra session Kent State scored the first eight points and the Bonnies never came closer than six points after that. "(Kent State) controlled the game for 36 minutes and then we made a great comeback," van Breda Kolff said. Sometimes, you're always trying to get over the hump, and we never could." The Bonnies won their first game over break, a 78-74 victory over Siena at the Pepsi Center on Dec. 20. Massiah gave the Bonnies a four point lead on a three pointer with 19 seconds to play. The Bonnies hit 16 three-pointers in the game.
Upcoming games crucial to team's A-10 success
By Jennifer Iannone After an Atlantic 10 loss to St. Joseph's on Sunday, the women's basketball team looks ahead in hopes of defeating the Fordham Lady Rams tonight at 7 p.m. on the road. Fordham has a record of 3-13 overall and 1-4 in the A-10 conference, but head coach Jim Crowley said that Fordham has lost six or seven games by six points or less. "They've been playing very tough in their own gym, so it'll be a really good challenge for us," Crowley said. "Anytime you play on the road in conference you have to play pretty well to walk out with a victory." On Sunday at noon, the team faces A-10 opponent Temple for a second time this season. On January 12, Temple defeated the Bonnies 64-54 in Philadelphia. Crowley said, "I expect us to recover and play the game the way we've worked on playing it from the start of the season. We've stressed those things the last few days in practice that we really want to play good team basketball on both ends." "We're at a point where every victory is important," he said. Over Winter Break, the women's team opened their conference season with a 70-60 home win over Rhode Island on Jan. 3. "We played fairly well and controlled the game," said Crowley. "That was a good win." Junior guard Courtney Mattingly had a game-high 19 points. Freshmen guards Caitlin Crist and Stefanie Collins scored 11 and seven points respectively. Senior forward Angela Scott scored eight points, junior guard Graziella Charles scored 13 and sophomore Jade Humble had six points and a game-high eight rebounds. The women traveled to La Salle on Jan. 6 and left with a 77-60 victory. Crowley said the team had a very good game. "Everyone who played scored, had a rebound, had an assist. We played very good defense," he said. The Bonnies win streak was broken in the game at Temple, Jan. 11. "We played a very good 35 minutes and lost our focus and our confidence the last five," Crowley said. "We ended up dropping that game." Mattingly posted her second straight double-double with a season-high 21 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. She also had an assist and two blocks. Mattingly's other double-double came against La Salle with 13 points and 14 rebounds. The women's team played its last game on Sunday against St. Joseph's. "We just didn't come with the intensity we needed Sunday at St. Joe's and lost that one," Crowley said. "We didn't shoot the ball with confidence. We didn't play an aggressive offense that we wanted to. We didn't defend with the fundamentals that we have stressed since the start of the season. "I think obviously the third game in a row on the road is tough," Crowley said. "St. Joe's came out pretty confident and intense." The Bonnies are now 2-2 in conference and 8-7 overall.
Patricio Prato Year: Junior Sport: Basketball This week: Prato scored 25 points, hitting on 8-12 three-pointers in the Bonnies' 93-74 win over Temple Wednesday at the Reilly Center. The eight threes were a career high and tied a school record.
19 The number of three-pointers for the Bonnies in their 93-74 win over Temple at the Reilly Center Wednesday. The total was a team record and tied the A-10 record.
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