The Bona Venture will be blogging all weekend from Albuquerque, N.M. for the BTI Invitational and here is a preview of the Loyola game as well as first impressions of the Lobos home arena, appropriately dubbed “The PIT.”
“The PIT” is just that – a hole in the ground with a basketball court at the bottom of it. When the arena was first constructed, the roof was built first, then a massive pit was dug out underneath the roof. Chair back seating lines one sideline of the arena with benches wrapped around from baseline to baseline. The arena is part of a multi-sport complex that also includes the Lobos football, baseball and basketball practice facilities. “The PIT” is notorious for high decibel levels but I doubt we’ll hear much of that in the Bonnies game as there are currently more people on press row than in the stands. The arena should fill up for the New Mexico games as the team, on average, fills up 95 percent of its 18,000-seat capacity.
Tonight’s Starters:
St. Bonaventure
Zarryon Fereti
Michael Lee
Hillary Haley
D’Lancy Carter
Malcolm Eleby
Loyola Marymount
G – Quentin Turner (Jr. 6-1)
G – Shawn Deadwiler (So. 6-3)
G – Orlando Johnson (Fr. 6-5)
F – Tim Diederichs (Fr. 6-9)
F – Terron Sutton (Fr. 6-9)
This lineup is littered with young players who before this season had never started a game on the Division I level. This could be a trap game for the Bonnies before they face New Mexico tomorrow but Schmidt simply cannot allow that to occur. The Bonnies need their seniors to lead them as they did against Binghamton Monday night and they need to cut down the turnovers. If all that happens, this shouldn’t be a difficult win for this team.
Relph Update:
Tyler is dressed and has moved adequately well in warm-ups to this point – 20 minutes before tip-off. There is no visible brace of any kind on the ankle but I’m sure Schmidt will be wise in his utilization of Relph tonight knowing he has two games left to play in as many days.
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