Small ball anyone? The St. Bonaventure Bonnies will host the Fordham rams this evening in the Reilly center, in case you didn’t read that in all the headlines today. One of my favorite things to bet on is without a doubt these small conference weekday basketball games. The ones which public and media influence aren’t a factor, mainly because the majority of people have no idea these two teams are even playing but also because they are money makers.
by Tyler Wright – Wannamakeabet Staff Writer
St. Bonaventure is consistently a leader in the Atlantic 10 conference and every once in a while throws a team together that gets an NCAA tournament bid. Now I’m not willing to say this is one of those NCAA tournament bid type years for them just yet, but this team is not bad at all. The Bonnies have a 10-4 record (6-7 ATS) and have beaten Fordham nine of the last ten meetings, with a 7-2-1 ATS record in those 10 games.
Fordham will have their hands full playing at the Reilly center tonight, where the Bonnies average 80 pts/ game on 47% shooting from the field. Throw in 41% from the 3 point line and an average of 34 rebounds per game for the home team, all of which is significantly better than Fordham’s less than impressive road stats and I start smelling a cover for St. Bonaventure.
The X factor in this game is without a doubt whether or not Will Tavares, Fordhams leading scorer with 15.5 a game, will play tonight for the Rams. Tavares is still listed as questionable with a calf injury for tonight’s game. Even if Tavares is active I still like the Bonnie’s tonight -14.5, knowing he will possibly be nursing a sore calf if he does play. St. Bonaventure -14.5