Men's Basketball: Bonnies head to Rutgers
Garden State Tip-Off continues with games this weekend
Ryan O'Reilly
Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: Sports
The mens basketball team welcomes SEC power Mississippi State to the Reilly Center Tuesday, Nov. 25, but before that the Bonnies will put its 2-0 record to the test in its remaining two games of the Garden State Challenge.
Tonight, the Bonnies face off against Delaware before playing Big East member Rutgers Sunday. Both games will be played at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J.
Delaware, 0-2, lost to Rutgers, 85-77, in its season-opener before dropping a 86-75 decision to Robert Morris. In both games, senior guard Marc Egerson, a Colonial Athletic Conference third team selection last season, scored 28 points and recorded 12 rebounds in the loss to Rutgers. Against Robert Morris, Egerson put up 16 points and brought down 16 rebounds.
Rutgers is off to a better start than the Blue Hens, as they are 2-0 after victories over Marist, 63-61, and Delaware.
The Scarlet Knights will have two players to worry about in 6-foot-11 junior Hamady Ndiaye and highly touted freshman guard Mike Rosario.
Ndiaye has pulled down 15 rebounds and scored 34 points in the team's first two games. Rosario, rated No. 16 on ESPNU's top 100 recruiting list in 2008, has scored 17 points in his first two games.
The Bulldogs earned a No. 8 seed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament after recording a 23-11 regular season record. They defeated Oregon, 79-69, in the first round before bowing out to eventual national runner-up Memphis, 77-74. Defensively, the team returns its leading shot blocker Jarvis Varnado, who averaged 4.61 blocks a game.
The Bonnies are 2-0 for the first time in five years after victories over Robert Morris and Marist. The Marist game was a 77-54 blowout in which the team members clicked in all areas of the game.
They scored 20 points off 24 forced turnovers, while connecting on 8-of-10 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Junior guard Chris Matthews scored 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Junior Jonathan Hall scored 13 points and pulled down six boards. Freshman Andrew Nicholson put forth the best performance of his young career with 13 points and five blocks in 21 minutes of play.
In addition, sophomore guard Malcolm Eleby filled the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.
The second half was also a vast improvement from their previous two games as, for the first time this season, they outscored the opponent in the final frame, leading to the lopsided score.
There is certainly reason for optimism from a fan base waiting for a breakout season, and this next three-game stretch the team embarks on should go a long way in showing just how well the 2008-2009 edition of the Bonnies can play.
Tonight, the Bonnies face off against Delaware before playing Big East member Rutgers Sunday. Both games will be played at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J.
Delaware, 0-2, lost to Rutgers, 85-77, in its season-opener before dropping a 86-75 decision to Robert Morris. In both games, senior guard Marc Egerson, a Colonial Athletic Conference third team selection last season, scored 28 points and recorded 12 rebounds in the loss to Rutgers. Against Robert Morris, Egerson put up 16 points and brought down 16 rebounds.
Rutgers is off to a better start than the Blue Hens, as they are 2-0 after victories over Marist, 63-61, and Delaware.
The Scarlet Knights will have two players to worry about in 6-foot-11 junior Hamady Ndiaye and highly touted freshman guard Mike Rosario.
Ndiaye has pulled down 15 rebounds and scored 34 points in the team's first two games. Rosario, rated No. 16 on ESPNU's top 100 recruiting list in 2008, has scored 17 points in his first two games.
The Bulldogs earned a No. 8 seed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament after recording a 23-11 regular season record. They defeated Oregon, 79-69, in the first round before bowing out to eventual national runner-up Memphis, 77-74. Defensively, the team returns its leading shot blocker Jarvis Varnado, who averaged 4.61 blocks a game.
The Bonnies are 2-0 for the first time in five years after victories over Robert Morris and Marist. The Marist game was a 77-54 blowout in which the team members clicked in all areas of the game.
They scored 20 points off 24 forced turnovers, while connecting on 8-of-10 shooting from beyond the 3-point line. Junior guard Chris Matthews scored 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Junior Jonathan Hall scored 13 points and pulled down six boards. Freshman Andrew Nicholson put forth the best performance of his young career with 13 points and five blocks in 21 minutes of play.
In addition, sophomore guard Malcolm Eleby filled the stat sheet with six points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.
The second half was also a vast improvement from their previous two games as, for the first time this season, they outscored the opponent in the final frame, leading to the lopsided score.
There is certainly reason for optimism from a fan base waiting for a breakout season, and this next three-game stretch the team embarks on should go a long way in showing just how well the 2008-2009 edition of the Bonnies can play.
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