BY ANDREW HALE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team takes on Division III Alfred University in its annual preseason exhibition game Wednesday night in the Reilly Center.
The Bonnies, projected to finish 10th of 15 teams in the Atlantic 10’s Preseason Poll, face a familiar Alfred team. The two squads have played against each other nearly every year dating back to the 2016-17 season.
Bonaventure defeated Alfred 80-41 in last year’s matchup.
While the Saxons’ roster consists of 15 returners and five first-year players this season, Bonaventure’s roster offers a much different look.
This year’s Bonnies’ squad features 10 newcomers and five returning players.
Graduate center Noel Brown, junior guard Broek Ostrom, sophomore guards Jack DeRose and Miles Rose and redshirt freshman forward Duane Thompson are the only returners.
Brown played in 33 games last season, totaling 202 points and securing 73 rebounds, while DeRose, Ostrom and Rose appeared in a combined 13 games.
Since the team has only played together during practices, Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said the players are still learning how to work together.
“We’re a work in progress,” Schmidt said. “We’re trying to get [the team] all accustomed to what we’re running, the culture, the system and our expectations.”
Schmidt said he anticipates everyone on the team getting some playing time Wednesday night.
“We’re going play everybody,” Schmidt said. “We got 13 guys on scholarship, and they’ll all play. Some guys may play a little bit more than others, but we want to win, and we want to play everybody.”
Alfred, on the other hand, enters Wednesday night with an experienced team.
Junior Saxons forward Franlys Valenzuela finished last season ninth in D-III with 11.7 rebounds per game and 13th with 303 total rebounds.
Junior guard Tyler Curran totaled 180 points, 67 rebounds and 57 assists while appearing in all 28 games last year for the Saxons. Curran played for the Bonnies during the 2022-23 season.
Even though Wednesday’s game is only an exhibition, Schmidt said he still expects the team to play with a high level of effort.
“We want to play really hard,” Schmidt said. “This is the first impression that we’re going to give our fans. First impressions are lasting. I want the fans to leave at the end of the game saying, ‘Wow, those guys play hard.’”
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+, and radio listeners can tune into the game via the Bonnies Online Network.
halea22@bonaventure.edu
