Campus Watch

ROCHESTER -- St. Bonaventure hosts St. John’s in Blue Cross Arena this evening in an intriguing matchup as the Bonnies look to expand upon the success of their season opener, a 72-62 victory over defending Horizon League tourney champion Cleveland State on Friday.

It is Bona’s first game in Rochester since 2005, when it fell to eventual Sweet 16 participant West Virginia, 66-61. The Bonnies are 1-3 all time in Blue Cross with the lone victory a 79-78 triumph over UNC-Charlotte on Nov. 25, 2000.

It is the Bonnies’ first meeting with the Johnnies since 1985. The Red Storm holds an 11-5 edge in the all-time series, but tonight is only the third game between the programs since 1960.

Bona’s sports information director, Pat Pierson, informs me that the Big East and Big 12 are two conferences yet to lose a game this season.

It is approaching 6:30 p.m. now and both teams have hit the floor for warm-ups. The game should be tipping off around 7 as scheduled since, thankfully, the previous matchup between Roberts Wesleyan and Nazareth avoided overtime. (Hey, I am used to editing copy on deadline, not writing it).

So bear with me on this live blogging thing, too. I will do what I can.

I am trying to track down Bona Athletic Director Steve Watson right now for some thoughts on the Rochester game and the likelihood of future neutral site games in Blue Cross and in Buffalo.

Catch you around tipoff time. ...

FIRST HALF

20:00 left: Looking at the officials, I could have sworn longtime Big East official Mike Kitts was one of the men in stripes. But a glance down at the game sheet indicates it is Tim Kitts. Must be a brother, but I came up empty after a brief Google.

Oh well, game on. End zone seats are mostly empty, but between the baselines this place has filled in well.

UPDATE: I have not lost my mind. The postgame boxscore lists "Mike Kitts." So the pregame sheet was incorrect.

14:15: Johnnies out to 13-8 lead. Up-tempo pace so far, with both teams using aggressive man-to-man defense and full-court pressure.

12:26: St. John's leads, 16-15. Impressive follow-ups on consecutive possessions by Da'Quan Cook (dunk) and Andrew Nicholson (tip-in) have the crowd energized. Bona finally seems to be settling into an offensive groove.

Both teams have burned a timeout due to inability to get the ball inbounds.

11:55: Bona in front, 17-16. Michael Davenport's shot counts as the Johnnies are whistled for goaltending. 13-5 run for the Bonnies in the last four minutes.

7:53: Bonnies hold 19-18 edge. Bona's Jonathan Hall headed to line for two. Johnnies' field goal drought at 6:07 by my count.

3:59: All knotted at 27. Bonnies hanging tough without Nicholson. He has been on the bench since picking up foul No. 2 with 9:28 remaining. St. John's point guard Malik Boothe is in the same boat.

Halftime: St. John's leads, 36-34. The Bonnies did not have a field goal from 5:05 left till 2:00 remained. They fell behind, 36-30, after a series of offensive possessions that had coach Mark Schmidt repeatedly urging Bona to be more patient. They clawed back with a set of Cook free throws and an layup from Ogo Adegboye.

Second half should have a different feel to it with both Nicholson and the Red Storm's Boothe back in the mix.

SECOND HALF

15:07: Red Storm up, 42-40. Nicholson's presence has helped settle the Bona offense. But the Johnnies remain hot from the outside. Boothe picked up No. 3, but Norm Roberts has left him in the game.

11:12: St. John's expands lead to 51-44. D.J. Kennedy buries another big three for the Johnnies. Stats from the 16-minute media timeout: St. John's 7 of 14 from three, Bona 0 of 3.

8:52: Johnnies' edge at 55-49. Bona surrendering too many easy drives to the hoop and has one field goal in last five minutes.

2:17: St. John's leads, 67-63, with possession: A clutch three -- finally -- by Chris Matthews pulls Bona within four, but he misses one on the subsequent possession.

Final: St. John's wins, 69-68. Boothe hits two free throws with 6.2 seconds left and Bona's buzzer-beater clanks off back iron. More to come. Gotta run to meet deadline.

---Geoff Nason