Bonnies Hand Dayton First A-10 Loss

Watch the complete game ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Andrew Nicholson led the Bonnies with game-highs of 30 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks to help guide St. Bonaventure (9-6, 2-1 A-10) to an 81-73 victory over Dayton (12-5, 2-1) at the Reilly Center on Wednesday. Nicholson exploded for his sixth career 30-point game and rejected six shots – three shy of his school record nine – and went 10-of-11 from the free throw line to help the Bonnies beat Dayton for the first time since Feb. 3, 2002. The senior terrorized Dayton again after notching a 35-point, 11-rebound double-double in a loss at UD Arena last year. This time though, the Bonnies, who trailed 39-36 at the half, kept just in front of the Flyers as Nicholson scored 11 of SBU's final 15 points and the Bonnies made their free throws down the stretch. Da'Quan Cook made eight of his nine free throws and Demitrius Conger went 5-of-6 from the floor and added seven boards as each finished with 14 points. Sophomore guards Charlon Kloof (12 points, 2 assists) and Matthew Wright (6, 2) combined for 18 points and no turnovers as SBU had four of its five starters in double figures. Nicholson, who is just the 10th player in school history to surpass the 1,700-point barrier, became the second player in program annals to block 200 or more career shots. The Mississauga native has totals of 1,724 points and 205 blocks to date, passing J.R. Bremer (1,732) for eighth on the career scoring list and inching closer to Caswell Cyrus (289) on the career rejections chart with his outing against the Flyers. The Bonnies have now won seven of their last 10 games and will battle Xavier (11-5, 2-1) from the Cintas Center at noon on Saturday in a game carried live by ESPNU.   NOTES: The Flyers lost their first game of the year when scoring 70 or more points (8-1) … Cook matched his season-high scoring output, while Kloof's 12 were a new personal-best … Nicholson has seven career games with five or more blocks … he raised the school record twice as a freshman (eight, then nine) … the victory was Mark Schmidt's 25th Atlantic 10 triumph ... representatives from the NBA's Spurs, Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder were in attendance ... SID Dallas Miller celebrated his birthday.