TEAM ROSTERS
ST. BONAVENTURE BONNIES
0 Chance Moore G, Sr., 6-6/210, Brookhaven, GA
1 Duane Thompson F, R-Fr., 6-8/210, Boston, MA
2 Jaxon Edwards G, Jr., 6-5/195, Indianapolis, IN
3 Miles Rose G, So., 6-4/195, Rochester, NY
4 Ebrahim Kaba G/F, Fr., 6-9/200, East Orange, NJ
5 Dasonte Bowen G, Jr., 6-2/175, Boston, MA
7 Michael Folarin C, R-Jr., 6-11/225, London, ENG
8 Jonah Hinton G, R-So., 6-3/185, Chicago, IL
10 Lajae Jones G, Jr., 6-7/220, Jacksonville, FL
11 Melvin Council Jr. G, Sr., 6-4/180, Rochester, NY
15 Jack DeRose G, So., 6-0/175, Olean, NY
21 Xander Wedlow PF/C, Fr., 6-10/230, Detroit, MI
23 Noah Bolanga G, Fr., 6-8/180, Poitiers, FRA
24 Noel Brown C, Gr., 6-11/255, Leesburg, VA
30 Broek Ostrom G, Jr., 6-2/180, Holley, NY
0 Brandon Jennings G, Fr., 6-4/175, Richmond, VA
1 Phillip Russell G, Gr., 6-0/180, St. Louis, MO
2 Zeb Jackson G, Gr., 6-5/190, Toledo, OH
4 Jack Clark F, Gr., 6-10/215, Cheltenham, PA
5 Alphonzo "Fats" Billups III G/F, R-So., 6-7/180, Richmond, VA
6 Terrence Hill Jr. G, Fr., 6-3/180, Portland, OR
7 Obinnaya Okafor F, R-So., 6-9/215, Hampton, VA
8 Michael Belle G/F, So., 6-8/220, London, ENG
9 Luke Bamgboye F, Fr., 6-10/200, London, ENG
11 Max Shulga G, Sr., 6-5/210, Kyiv, UKR
17 Martin Carrere G/F, Fr., 6-8/180, Pontonx-sur-l'Adour, FRA
Christian Fermin
22 Joe Bamisile G, Gr., 6-4/200, Chesterfield, VA
2024-25 St. Bonaventure bonnies
TEAM STATISTICS
TEAM STATISTICS
GAME NOTES
OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure opens Atlantic 10 play on New Year’s Eve afternoon by welcoming preseason A-10 favorite VCU to the Reilly Center after the best non-conference slate for the program during Bona’s A-10 era.
The Bonnies have their best start to a season since the 1969-70 Final Four team also opened that campaign at 12-1.
The hot start for the Bonnies this season has put this year’s team in the conversation with some of the best in program history. Bona has a 12-1 record through 13 games for the fifth time - in the previous instances, SBU made a national postseason tournament: 1969-70 (opened 12-1, reached NCAA Final Four); 1960-61 (opened 21-1, reached the first NCAA Tournament in school history); 1958-59 (opened 15-1, finished 20-3 and reached NIT); 1950-51 (opened 12-1, finished 19-6 and reached NIT). Bona has only had two better starts through 13 games all-time: 1967-68 (23-0, NCAA) and ‘51-52 (16-0, NIT).
The Bonnies have won nine of their last 11 Atlantic 10 openers, including an 89-78 win at VCU last January.
STARTING FIVE
• By winning 12 of 13 games to begin the year, the Bonnies have had their best stretch of a baker’s dozen games during a season since 2018 when the team went on a 13-game winning streak on the way to a 26-win season and NCAA First Four win over UCLA that year.
• Melvin Council Jr. swiped a career-high seven steals in the Dec. 17 win at Siena. That represents the most steals in a game by a Bonnies player since Marques Green also had seven at Saint Joseph’s on March 2, 2004. Council
was just one off the Bona single-game record of eight steals posted by David Vanterpool at Duquesne Jan. 13, 1995.
• Council filled the stat sheet in the non-conference finale victory over Niagara on Dec. 21, doing everything in the victory with 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
• St. Bonaventure scored a season sweep of Big 4 rivals Buffalo, Canisius and Niagara for the first time since 2015-16 – the Bonnies did not play Niagara between 2020-22, however.
• The Bonnies have produced a winning record in Atlantic 10 play in eight of the past 10 years as well as last year’s .500 mark in league play of 9-9.
BONA BALANCE
St. Bonaventure hasn’t had just one or two stars in its strong start. Prior to point guard Dasonte Bowen suffering a foot injury which has cost him the past three games, four of Bona’s five starters were averaging in double figures while all five were posting 9.0+ ppg.
COUNCIL AT THE POINT
Melvin Council Jr. has shined since taking over the point guard duties during Dasonte Bowen’s absence. The Rochester native has been a do-it-all dynamo for the Bonnies, averaging 17.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 4.3 steals with a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio in the past three contests. He logged a season-high 24 points to key the win over Providence Dec. 14, then had the most steals by a Bona player (7) in two decades Dec. 17 at Siena. Against Niagara last time out, he had 14 points and a season-best seven assists along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Continued on Page 9
GAME SCHEDULE
OCTOBER
30 vs. Alfred (Exhibition) W, 63-39
NOVEMBER
4 vs. CSUN ........................ W, 70-56
9 at Canisius W, 87-78 13 at FGCU W, 74-65 16 vs. Le Moyne ................ W, 71-52
20 vs. Mansfield W, 76-54 24 vs. Bryant .........................W, 85-70
vs. Utah State L, 67–72
vs. Northern Iowa W, 68-56
game start times are listed in Eastern Time and are subject to change. Home games in bold
decEMBER
at Bucknell ...................... W, 64-47 7 vs. Buffalo W, 65-55
HALL OF FAME SHOWCASE 14 vs. Providence W, 74-70
at Siena W, 65-48
vs. Niagara W, 71-52
vs. VCU 2:00
january
february
vs. Fordham.................
Loyola
vs. George W. 12:00 pm
at Rhode Island .................. 7:00 pm
march
GAME NOTES
Continued from Page 6
TRENDING NUMBERS
11 – St. Bonaventure sank a season-best 11 3-pointers in the win over Niagara Dec. 21 to finish non-conference play. Bona’s previous high in a game was eight, set three times.
28 – Chance Moore’s 28 offensive rebounds on the year are tied for fourth among all Atlantic 10 players and the most by any A-10 guard.
32 – Melvin Council Jr. has swiped 32 steals this season, the most by any player in the Atlantic 10 thus far.
47% - Lajae Jones drained four 3-pointers in the win over Niagara. For the season, he has hit on over 47 percent of his 3-point tries (17-36), the best on the team.
115 – Noel Brown will suit up for his 115th career collegiate game vs. VCU.
SERIES HISTORY St. Bonaventure leads, 9-8
This will be the 18th meeting all-time between St. Bonaventure and VCU. The Bonnies have won five of the last seven contests between the two programs. This will mark the second consecutive year that the Bonnies and Rams have opened up A-10 play against each other, though it is the first time that the Bonnies have begun conference action by hosting VCU.
Last year, the Bonnies led wire-to-wire in a convincing win in Richmond over the Rams, 89-78. The 89 points posted by Bona’s in that game represents the program’s all-time high vs. VCU and gave the program back-to-back wins at VCU’s Siegel Center for the first time.
The rivalry has been an entertaining one in recent years. In 2022-23, the Bonnies scored a dramatic 61-58 win at VCU. The 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship Game came as the rubber match between the Bonnies and Rams after splitting two regular season meetings that year. St. Bonaventure captured its second Atlantic 10 title in program history, 74-65, over VCU in Dayton that season.
Prior to their first matchup as A-10 foes in 2013, the Bonnies defeated VCU in backto-back years during the late '70s - a 63-61 victory in the 1978 ECAC Championship Game to reach the NCAA Tournament as well as a victory in the following season on home court. In the 1978 ECAC Championship, Tim Waterman's buzzer-beater sent the Bonnies to victory - and a spot in the NCAA Tournament - in Rochester's War Memorial Stadium with one of the most memorable shots in program history.
ABOUT VCU
• The Rams were picked as the A-10 preseason favorite after returning a conference-high 65 percent of its scoring from last year’s team that finished 24-14 overall. Preseason First Team selection Max Shulga and Second Team honorees Zeb Jackson and Joe Bamisile lead the way. Bamisile posts 17.0 ppg and 5.4 rpg while Shulga (16.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and Jackson (11.3, 3.1 rpg) are scoring threats in any contest. Jackson was also selected to the league’s preseason All-Defensive Team.
• The contest should be a low-scoring one, featuring two of the nation’s top-15 defenses: While the Bonnies finished non-conference play 11th nationally in points allowed per game (59.6), VCU checked in at 14th by surrendering only 61.3 ppg and limiting opponents to 38.6 shooting from the floor on average, a total that stands 25th nationally.
• VCU went 10-3 in non-conference but played just one true road game – a loss at New Mexico, 78-71, on Dec. 18. The Rams scored two power conference wins in non-conference play – at home over Boston College (80-55) and on a neutral floor vis Miami (77-70) in the Charleston Classic.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Caitlin Frost
In the Franciscan Cup win at Siena Dec. 17, he scored 14 points while his seven steals were the most by a Bonnies player in over 20 years and just one off the school’s singlegame record. The GoBonnies.com Student-Athletes of the Week presented by CPL are women’s basketball freshman Caitlin Frost and men’s basketball senior Melvin Council Jr.
Frost, a 6-1 forward, registered a career-high 16 points in the Bonnies' contest against UAlbany Dec. 14. She finished the contest shooting an efficient 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from the floor.
She added a pair of rebounds to go along with a steal and a block in 31 minutes.
A native of Les Coteaux, Quebec, Frost missed the first four games of the season with an injury and since returning is averaging 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. She has started three contests and is shooting 58.4 percent from the floor.
Frost was selected as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Dec. 16. She is the first Bonnies freshman to earn A-10 Rookie of the Week honors since Olivia Brown garnered the accolades Dec. 16, 2019.
Council was named the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase MVP after posting a game-high 24 points in a win over Providence Dec. 14 at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Council certainly earned his accolades, scoring a game-high 24 points including 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the second half, and he was seemingly everywhere down the stretch.
While some of his production came courtesy of his "Rochester Euro moves" as head coach Mark Schmidt coined it, he was just as important on the defensive end with three key steals after halftime.
melvin council jr.
2024-25 St. Bonaventure athletic
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BEHIND THE BONNIES
Welcome to "Behind The Bonnies," a new GoBonnies.com series where we get to know the student-athletes at St. Bonaventure University. In this edition, we meet Bonnies Junior Lajae Jones.
Junior Lajae Jones has been a key to Bona’s hot start to the season, averaging nearly 10 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Last time out vs. Niagara, he matched his Division I career-high with 16 points, adding eight rebounds to win Player of the Game honors.
Before transferring to Bonaventure, Jones started his collegiate career at Division I Tarleton State in 202223 and played at Barton Community College last season. He served as Barton’s leading scorer and helped lead the team to the NJCAA Division I national championship. Jones was named MVP of the national championship tournament after he posted 14 points and 13 rebounds in the championship game. He averaged 15.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and shot 54 percent overall from the floor including better than 42 percent from beyond the arc at Barton as he helped his squad to a 36-1 record and a 27-game winning streak en route to the national junior college crown.
Jones was an all-state basketball player in high school and was a two-time team captain.
What is your favorite thing about basketball? Getting better and just playing the game itself
When was the first time you heard about St. Bonaventure? When I saw the guy with the long shorts and the headband (Marques Green)
What is your favorite song? Your Friends by Hunxho
What is your favorite food? My mom’s burritos
Who is your favorite basketball player? Kobe Bryant
What are your hobbies outside of basketball? Playing video games, sleeping, and listening to music
How would you describe your game? It’s very unique and versatile. I can watch a new move and pick it up somehow or some way.
What is your favorite basketball memory? Winning the national championship in JUCO
What are your goals after college? To play in the NBA and have a long and successful career
Could you see yourself wearing the Marques Green basketball shorts in a game? Maybe in warmups
What made Bonaventure a good fit for you? I like the plan the coaches have laid out for me and Bonaventure is a very blue-collar school
