BY ANDREW HALE, MANAGING EDITOR
The No. 7 St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team takes on No. 2 Loyola Chicago in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championships Thursday.
In February, the Bonnies defeated the Ramblers 79-64 in Loyola Chicago’s first trip to the Reilly Center.
Bonnies redshirt senior guard Daryl Banks III scored 26 off the bench in the teams’ first matchup. Loyola Chicago senior forward Philip Alston finished with a team-high 12 points against the Bonnies.
However, much has changed since that first meeting. Before Bonaventure’s round-two win over La Salle, the Bonnies had dropped back-to-back games to George Washington and Saint Louis – the A-10’s bottom two teams this season.
Loyola Chicago won their final three games of the season, including a win over nationally ranked No. 21 Dayton. The Ramblers also cliched a share of the A-10 regular season title, in only their second season in the conference.
After finishing with a record of 15-3 in conference play, Loyola clinched a double-bye and the No. 2 seed in the A-10 tournament.
Loyola Chicago junior guard Desmond Watson leads the team in points and rebounds with 13.0 and 4.6 respectively.
Watson was All-Conference Second Team this season. Alston and senior guard Braden
Norris were All-Conference Third Team honorees.
Ramblers freshman center Miles Ruben ended the regular season with 72 blocks and 143 rebounds, earning him All-Defensive Team and All-Rookie Team honors.
Redshirt junior forward Chad Venning was named an All-Conference Second Team honoree – the Bonnies only All-Conference player this season. The Bonnies big man leads the team in points with 14.
The Bonnies and Ramblers quarterfinals matchup can be seen on USA Network Thursday at 5 p.m.
“[Loyola Chicago] is really talented, really well coached,” said Bonnies head coach Mark Schmidt. “They’ve got veteran guys, they run really good offense and they defend. They’ll be motivated. We’ve got our hands full, but that’s why we play the games.”
halea22@bonaventure.edu
