In late December of that year, the two universities met for the championship of the highly regarded annual Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Holiday Festival in Madison Square Garden. My first time on a plane (age 20) was flying from Bradford (PA) to Washington, DC, to see an SBU-GW game (sadly a 78-64 loss). Edit Close Not only because it was a return to the tournament, but it was also a win, and it was a game that the Reilly Center hadnt seen in a long timegetting to play a post-season game and come away with a win, he said. Donovan, however, kept Stith on the floor and instructed the Bonnies to run a set play. You have permission to edit this article. They lost their last two regular season games before falling in double overtime to St. Joes in the Atlantic 10 tournament and finding themselves with a record of 17-12. Error! And the NIT game with Southern Mississippi was significant on a number of levels, according to Tommasino. ST. BONAVENTURE Eight of the top athletes in St. Bonaventure history have been tapped to join the school's Athletics Hall of Fame. The Bonnies were badly outrebounded, 42-23, with Oregon star and second team USBWA All-American Greg Ballard nearly matching the Bona total with 15 rebounds. And win they dida first post-season tournament championship in a program dating to 1919-20. However, the idea of the Bonnies even being picked for the NIT that season was uncertain. College/high school sports enterprise reporter. From that list, a group of 20 program greats have earned selection to the Centennial Season All-Time Team. Then, they saw it Monday against the Billikens (17-8, 8-4). He was also A-10 second team in 1983 and the captain of the 1983 NIT team before being selected to the SBU Hall of Fame in 1995. Lanier was also known for his legendary extra-large sneakers, size 22, one of which has been on display at the Buffalo History Museum. St. Bonaventure tied the score at 61 with 11:20 left, but Niagara surged ahead behind 70 percent shooting in the second half. An apparent late whistle against Baron on the steal affected the outcome. 3 national ranking before losing to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA tourney. They made me so proud.". The defensive guy played me for the charge, so I pulled up and banked it off the backboard, Stith remembered. He scored 40 points in the NIT Championship Game in 1977 and had a career-high of 46 points against Detroit earlier that year, also pouring in 30 points in the second round of the NIT with a win over Oregon. Of course not, Crawford replied without a second thought. Then came February 25 with Niagaras visit to the Armory. All you have to do is activate your access. 2023 CIF Southern Section Girls' Basketball Championships (California) Division 1. Last time I saw Pistons superstar BOB LANIER was several years ago when he spent the weekend at my house as he attended my Gala. A consensus All-American twice (1969, '70), Lanier finished his career as the St. Bonaventure record holder in seven categories including points (2,067), rebounding (1,180), single-game scoring (51 points vs. Seton Hall), single-game rebounding (27 vs. Loyola MD), single-season rebounding (416), single-season shooting percentage (.586) and average rebounds in one season (16.0 rpg) in 1969-70. access for current print subscribers. Sam Stith None of the responses will be shared or used for any other purpose except to better serve our community. St. Bonaventure needs to capitalize on the remainder of their schedule, including four games against teams that are in the bottom half of the , Starting this weekend, spectators who attend basketball games at St. Bonaventure won't be required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination for e. (); : That gave us an opportunity to call timeout and say, OK, we have plenty of time here. It took so much pressure off the other guys, he added. Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading. Recruiting buzz is already building just days after the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team's season ended at the hands of the LSU Tigers in the NCAA Tournament. To this point, it wasnt Stiths best moment in a Bona uniform. He served as captain his senior season of 1962-63 and was named All-East that year. Because I think that's really important -- legacies and tradition. They werent built that way. St. Bonaventure will allow basketball players to begin returning to campus July 18. The Latest St. Bonaventure Bonnies Basketball (Olean Times Herald) News | SportSpyder Sign in MLB NFL NBA NHL NCAAB NCAAF MLS Premier More Shop My Podcasts Follow Team News Tweets Players Widgets Loading. The Bob Lanier Center for Educational, Physical and Cultural Development is a childrens and youth service in Buffalo, founded in 1994. Combing through them uncovered an array of Bona gems. 3. Lanier graduated from St. Bonaventure in 1970 with a degree in business, and his name is on the basketball court at the Reilly Center in Allegany, an honor bestowed in 2007. One Bona fan, Pat (Tiger) Flynn, recalled going to Armory games from the age of six. Would you like to receive our sports news? He earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Year twice (1980, '81) and helped the Bonnies to a 70-41 record during his career before earning selection to the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991. Were moving it [the ball] around, the clock is ticking off, and [teammate] Larry Weise yelled at me when I got the ball to drive to the hoop. He ranks third in school history in three-pointers with 223 and also stands sixth in career steals (185) and ninth in assists (334). Then, after Adaway missed the back end of a pair of free-throw attempts, Fred Thatch Jr.s 3-pointer cut Bonas lead to 78-74 with 3:03 remaining. But in the final five minutes, Saint Louis trailed 77-69 and attempted one more rally, despite Collins fouling out with 4:03 left. Lettuce, tomato, onionsa nd sour cream will be included. In the 1961 NCAA Tournament, he posted 34 points and 16 rebounds in a first round win over Rhode Island, then had 19 points and 10 boards in a second round setback vs. Wake Forest and scored in double figures in every postseason game he played. ", NBA Commissioner Adam Silvers statement regarding the passing of Bob Lanier. Satalin led a 20-6 squad to Princeton, NJ, to face Rutgers, a matchup with a team that the Bonnies had lost to 374 days prior in the previous season. As a senior, he averaged 17.5 ppg and was named First Team All-A-10. There was a problem saving your notification. In 2015, Dan received the Bud Dwyer Jr. media award from the Southern California High School Football Coaches Association. They responded. In the closing minutes and the Bonnies down 87-86, Sanders made a 22-foot jumper from directly in front of the Bona bench. I found the Bob Lanier autograph taken to my first grade class in 1968. Thank You! The only thing is that I came close to charging the other player. The Bonnies last loss had come to Niagara on February 11, 1948. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime. We were ready, and they didnt do anything we didnt think they were going to do, Billikens coach Travis Ford said. The Hagan-Baron backcourt flourished against Villanova, which ultimately finished third in the tournament. The Universitys webpage of Stith offers an apt description: When the game was on the line, he became the Go To Guy, and he seldom disappointed. Win #73 included. An eight-time NBA All-Star and member of the 1970-71 All-Rookie team, Lanier scored more than 19,000 points over his 14-year career with Detroit and Milwaukee, averaging 20.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.1 steals while shooting 51.4 percent from the field. Mater Dei (19-3): Monarchs conclude regular season Friday at potentially undefeated Camarillo and UCLA-bound Gabriela Jaquez. It was Crawford, however, who kept St. Bonaventure in the game, as he demonized Ohio States zone in scoring 18 points in the first half. Bonaventure will also institute hygiene and cleaning measures in its athletic department. A private, giving nature is one of the many qualities that local basketball dignitaries remembered about Lanier, a Buffalo native and a Bennet, The Bonnies will wear commemorative patches that bear Bob Laniers No. Love u big guy . However, the Little Three matchup was not a game to be taken lightly. ST. BONAVENTURE Bob Lanier, the greatest basketball player in St. Bonaventure University history, died early today surrounded by family in Arizona. Despite an overall winning record that included an upset over top-ranked Saint Louis in the A-10 tournament quarterfinals, the Bonnies were not invited to a postseason bid due to an inability to come to an agreement with the College Basketball Invitational. $3.00 The NBA confirmed Lanier's death in a statement by commissioner Adam Silver, which was posted to social media early Wednesday morning. Niagara just had control of the game., Final score: Niagara 87, St. Bonaventure 77. Yet, to the surprise of many, they did get an NIT invite. For our guys to be able to go out and play a great UCLA team and beat them, to me, hopefully that helps the disappointment back in 1970.". This outcome was different, however, with Glenn Hagan scoring the winning shot in the 79-77 overtime win. As a student at St. Bonaventure (SBU), I had the joy of interning in the Sports Information office and experiencing the excitement of Reilly Center games from a pressbox perspective. He helped Bona to three NIT berths and one NCAA Tournament and went on to play for the New York Knicks. A bronze pair of his sneakers remains in the Basketball Hall of Fame. St. Bonaventure basketball fans came to the Reilly Center hoping to see their team shoot the lights out in its first win of the season. That would have really been disastrous. St. Bonaventure vs Buffalo: 2021-22 college basketball game preview, TV schedule Share The St. Bonaventure Bonnies will host the Buffalo Bulls on Saturday in a battle between two of the. Yes, Wake Forest upset St. Bonaventure on March 17, 1961, in the NCAA Eastern Regional semifinal game before a capacity crowd of 12,000 in Charlotte, NC, a profound disappointment to Bona fans thinking about a national championship. Just how good was the story. Crawford didnt remember a unique strategy designed to stop Lucas and the other Ohio State stars. We werent in the right places at the right time. Her directive to me was clear: In preparing to move, my childhood boxes collecting dust in the basement needed to be sorted out. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1970, he had a stat line of 19 points and 16 rebounds in a first round win over Davidson, then had 15 and 11 in a second round triumph over N.C. State. This would drift to the gym, and, by the start of the second half, the teams would need radar to find the bench.. My gratitude goes to the people featured in the blogs for sharing their memories and to Dennis Frank, SBU Archivist. 2. Butler finished his career with 1,462 points during his career and grabbed 650 rebounds, also delivering 34 points in an NCAA Tournament win over Boston College in 1968. He scored 2,067 points in three seasons at Bona, and was the No. Nope, nope, he said without a second thought. St. Bonaventure started 0-3 before win streaks of four and five games boosted them in the home stretch of the season. Born Sept. 11,. More importantly, he led the 1994-95 team to the NIT - the first for the program since 1983. The Reilly Center Arena court where the Bonnies have played since 1966 was named after Lanier in 2007. I've worked in sports journalism since 1997 and I have covered everything from college football to the Stanley Cup playoffs, high school sports and the NCAA Tournament. During NCAA Tournament runs in 1968 and 1970, he scored in double figures in every game he played with dominating performances. In three years (1971-74), Price played his way into the program record book. He just looked at it and thought, Im making this thingits my time and Im making this and thats it. And he didhe had the game of his life.. Tournament Game. We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content. It was a tough call to have at that particular time of the game, and that saved them their undefeated season, he said. Called the best team in the East, the story related that the enterprising Bonnies could get a rematch against Ohio State, the only team to beat them to that point in the season. Santa Margarita (13-6): Eagles can clinch third in the Trinity League by defeating host Orange Lutheran on Wednesday. The college transitioned to distance learning and online classes in March. His 40 points hid one other key statistic: He collected a game-high 12 rebounds, an area of the game that some saw tilting toward Houston and its leading rebounder Mike Schultz prior the game. The Class of 2023 is headlined by former men's . Just make sure were talking on screens, because we knew they were going to come down and get a quick shot up. He had a better bank shot, with the hook or on mid-range shots, than any big man today. His success in the ensuing seasons propelled the program to new heights, which prompted kids like me to become ardent Bona fans and to keep special memories in all kinds of ways for decades to come. My wife has never watched a St. Bonaventure (SBU) mens basketball game, but she deserves an assist on leading me to learn more about the loss that effectively ended the hopes of an NCAA championship on a gloomy St. Patricks Day in 1961. Neil J. O'Connell, OFM, 84, former president of St. Bonaventure University, died Thursday evening (March 24, 2022) at the nursing care unit of St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in Allegany . Tommasino described the crowd as incredible with an energy level absolutely through the roof., The Bonnies responded in kind, surging to a 25-8 lead and ahead, 34-27, at half. After graduating from SBU (1983), I continued to follow the Bonnies. We hope that you enjoy our free content. The basketball success in that era was known for something else during Stiths playing days: a prominent home-game win streak. In the latter story, Coach Donovan conceded, We were called with an unusually large number of traveling violations, but I guess we were traveling., The Bona defeat was also mentioned in a 1968 Sports Illustrated story by Curry Kirkpatrick, who described it as a game still remembered for its odd officiating and for a Wake Forest fast break started by the coach from his bench. That specific second-half play, as related in an article years later in The Buffalo News, had the Wake Forest coach taking the ball from one of the Bona guards, who was about to offer an in-bounds pass, and throwing it to Packer for a basket. Greg Sanders "It was a labor of love for Bob, who was one of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever been around. A crowd of 12,451 packed Madison Square Garden for the 1pm tip on March 20, and Houston star Otis Birdsong was ready. Essie Hollis and Hagan led Bona scorers with 25 and 21 points, respectively. Athletes also will be tested when they arrive on campus, and they will complete a daily health screen through an app before they attend classes or team activities. Earl Belcher MAAC athletes must also sign a "Social Responsibility Pledge for Covid-19" as a condition of participating in championship competition. 2022-23 St. Bonaventure Men's Basketball Schedule Opens in new window Print Grid Text Add To Calendar Choose A Location: Go Season Go Season Record Overall 14-16 PCT .467 Conf 8-9 PCT .471 Streak W1 Home 11-4 Away 2-10 Neutral 1-2 Scheduled Games Nov 2 (Wed) 7:00 p.m. vs Alfred St. Bonaventure, N.Y. Reilly Center TV: ESPN+ Radio: WPIG W, 76-48 In this Dec. 7, 2019 file photo, Bob Lanier speaks during a celebration of the 1969-70 St. Bonaventure mens basketball team as teammate Billy Kalbaugh looks on Saturday at the Reilly Center. 53 is retired and he was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. The Bonnies finished the season with an overall record of 1815, with a record of 610 in the Atlantic 10 regular season for a ninth-place finish. Playing at a time in college basketball when players werent eligible to play at the varsity level until their sophomore year, Stith also collected 620 rebounds, rather impressive for a 6-2 guard/forward. In fact, I distinctly recall listening to the championship victory in the 2012 A-10 tournament from a hotel in Armenia. But coming out of the media timeout, the Bonnies answered with a 7-2 run, then opened their lead to 15 points with less than 10 minutes left in the game. St. Bonaventure basketball legend Bob Lanier, pictured here playing for the Detroit Pistons, made ESPNs list of the top 74 players in NBA history, checking in at No. To Jalen (Adaway), make the free throws, Osunniyi said. Both teams were undefeated. According to a Sports Illustrated account from February 1961, St. Bonaventure was the first independent team chosen for the 1961 NCAA tournament. In the championship played before 12,897 fans, Ohio State charged to a quick 5-0 lead behind a three-point play by Lucas and later led, 17-9. It started under Coach Ed Melvin before Coach Eddie Donovan took over the Bona program in 1953. If you are experiencing difficulties logging in or are a subscriber getting a paywall, please try one or more of the following steps. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at716-372-3121or emailnfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com. OLEAN - Frank S. Jester, 76, passed away Sunday (Feb. 26, 2023) at home, surrounded by his family, following a courageous battle with cancer. He even has a mention in pop culture, in the movie "Airplane!," when a young fan recognizes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar disguised as a co-pilot named Roger Murdock and insists the Los Angeles Lakers center doesnt give enough effort. The men's basketball team's 2019-20 season ended March 12, before it played its first game in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. You can find your account number on any recent subscription notice or bill. A shower of rain or wet snow possible late. After all, the game was played a month before I was born, well before I remember listening to Don McLean call games as a kid. Support our high school sports coverage by becoming a digital subscriber. I didnt even know at the time I tore my knee up. The University at Buffalo athletic department will begin allowing its athletes to return to campus this week to take part in voluntary workout, Some schools are releasing data in the name of transparency, while at least 13 athletic departments at FBS schools,including UB, are citing s, The NFL intends to play games in full stadiums this season. As a senior in 2001-02, he averaged 24.6 points per game and scored 738 points that season alone. It highlighted two players who went on to become the second picks in the first round of a professional draft. With so many greats to wear the Bonaventure colors through the years, coming up with an All-Time Team stands as a daunting task. On the day of the game, a writer for The Olean Times Herald predicted, It could be rough sledding before the century mark is recorded. Niagara entered as a 19.5-point underdog, but was hoping for a post-season NIT invitation. When I got the job here 11 years ago, we heard the stories about 1970 and how disappointing it was that Lanier got hurt and they didn't have a chance to have a full team going to play Jacksonville," Schmidt said. I think thats what gave them the two-point advantage, he added. 1 overall pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 1970 NBA draft, after a season in which he averaged 29.1 points a game. 6. With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. More Videos. During his time with the Bonnies, he sank 192 three-pointers, good for fourth in program history. Riding a seven-game win streak into the NIT, Indiana State relied on the high-scoring forward who averaged 33 points per game that season, but fell to Houston on the road. St. Bonaventure had its own challenge in the first round. Mater Dei (19-3): Monarchs conclude regular season Friday at potentially undefeated Camarillo and UCLA-bound Gabriela Jaquez. The captain of the 1959-60 team when he averaged 20.5 ppg, his No. Others considered (listed alphabetically): Aliso Niguel, El Dorado, Kennedy, Santiago, Tustin, Valencia, Please send feedback on rankings to Dan Albano at dalbano@scng.com or @ocvarsityguy on Twitter and Instagram. The dream had been realized fairly early in life: Tommasino said that getting the radio job for St. Bonaventure was his dream since second grade. He was selected All-A-10 First Team in 2003, the Second Team in 2004 and Third Team in 2002. The game was also unique in a way likely unmatched in any NCAA game since 1961. The 76-77 Bonnies jumped out to an 11-3 record by the end of January, losing only at Georgetown and DePaul and to Princeton at the Rochester War Memorial in the championship of the Kodak College Basketball Classic. No one can mention the 1970 St. Bonaventure men's basketball team without bringing up Bob Lanier. It was a labor of love for Bob, who was one of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever been around. He was picked to the SBU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988 and his No. Hollis scored 27 of Bonnies first 50 points as they headed into halftime with a comfortable 52-33 lead. ST. BONAVENTURE Bob Lanier, the greatest basketball player in St. Bonaventure University history, died early today surrounded by family in Arizona. He finished his career with 1,112 points, 620 rebounds and shot .761 from the free throw line. No, we didnt think about that, Crawford said. Thats exactly what the Bonnies did that evening in the Reilly Center, and it was Francis Tommasinos most memorable Bona game behind the microphone in his Bona tenure. In his first varsity season, the 6-11 Lanier and his teammates the legendary Iron Man Five of Lanier, Bill Butler, Billy Kalbaugh, John Hayes and Jim Satalin put together an undefeated regular season and a No. Then there was an unusual item, something related to a Bona defeat to Wake Forest Collegeits name at that timein March 1961. I cant sleep thinking about those memories . Any athlete who tests positive while on campus will be tested a second time at a local testing center and will be quarantined on campus. Its just that youre not there to help them. As part of the St. Bonaventure Basketball Centennial Season celebration, the Athletics Department gathered voting from fans and partnered with some of the most well-versed individuals on the history of the program to create an All-Time Team. It was the Bonnies only victory in the final five games of the season, as they lost at Marquette in the ensuing round of the NIT despite Vanterpools 27-point performance.
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