1969–70 St. Bonaventure Brown Indians men's basketball team
American college basketball season
The 1969–70 St. Bonaventure Brown Indians men's basketball team represented St. Bonaventure University during the 1969–70 NCAA University Division men's basketball season . The Brown Indians were independent and not a member of a conference. They were led by ninth year head coach Larry Weise as well as 6′ 11″ center Bob Lanier , named a consensus first-team All-American for the second consecutive season. He finished his career with averages of 27.6 points and 15.7 rebounds in 75 career games.[ 1] [ 2] St. Bonaventure advanced to the only Final Four in program history.[ 3] Lanier suffered a knee injury in the Regional final against Villanova and did not play in the Final Four,[ 4] but would be the top pick in the 1970 NBA draft and go on to a Hall of Fame career .
Roster
1969–70 St. Bonaventure Brown Indians men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Hometown
G
11
Bill Kalbaugh
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
—
Sr
C
31
Bob Lanier
6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
265 lb (120 kg)
Sr
Buffalo, New York
F
35
Matt Gantt
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
—
So
F
30
Tom Baldwin
6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
—
So
G
20
Paul Hoffman
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
So
G
33
Vic Thomas
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
—
So
G
15
Dale Tepas
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
Jr
F
23
Greg "Bubba" Gary
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
—
Jr
G
12
Gene Fahey
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
Sr
G
10
Mike Kull
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
Sr
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Schedule/results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
High points
High rebounds
High assists
Site (attendance) city, state
Dec 5, 1969 *
No. 17
Detroit College
W 106–54
1–0
36 – Lanier
–
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Dec 8, 1969 *
No. 20
Xavier
W 82–69
2–0
–
–
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Dec 15, 1969 *
No. 20
Detroit
W 97–68
3–0
–
–
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Dec 20, 1969 *
Duquesne
W 77–58[ 5]
4–0
21 – Lanier
21 – Lanier
–
Reilly Center (6,291)St. Bonaventure, NY
Dec 27, 1969 *
No. 19
at New York University Holiday Festival
W 107–60
5–0
33 – Lanier
–
–
Alumni Gymnasium New York, NY
Dec 29, 1969 *
No. 19
vs. Saint Joseph's Holiday Festival
W 96–61
6–0
25 – Lanier
–
–
Madison Square Garden New York, NY
Dec 30, 1969 *
No. 12
vs. No. 17 Purdue Holiday Festival Championship
W 91–75
7–0
50 – Lanier
15 – Lanier
–
Madison Square Garden New York, NY
Jan 3, 1970 *
No. 12
Baldwin-Wallace
W 96–63[ 6]
8–0
25 – Lanier
16 – Lanier
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Jan 7, 1970 *
No. 5
Loyola (MD)
W 96–52
9–0
–
24 – Lanier
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Jan 10, 1970 *
No. 5
at Kent State
W 94–65
10–0
42 – Lanier
13 – Lanier
–
Memorial Gym Kent, OH
Jan 21, 1970 *
No. 4
DePaul
W 83–59[ 7]
11–0
–
22 – Lanier
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Jan 24, 1970 *
No. 4
at Canisius
W 62–49
12–0
–
–
–
Koessler Center Buffalo, NY
Jan 28, 1970 *
No. 3
at Villanova
L 62–64
12–1
21 – Lanier
–
–
Villanova Field House Philadelphia, PA
Jan 31, 1970 *
No. 3
Niagara
W 89–81
13–1
–
23 – Lanier
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Feb 3, 1970 *
No. 3
Belmont Abbey
W 131–64
14–1
–
–
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Feb 7, 1970 *
No. 4
at Toledo
W 77–71
15–1
–
–
–
The Field House Toledo, OH
Feb 11, 1970 *
No. 4
at Seton Hall
W 103–83
16–1
–
–
–
Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ
Feb 14, 1970 *
No. 4
Providence
W 68–52
17–1
–
–
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Feb 18, 1970 *
No. 3
at St. Francis (NY)
W 87–57
18–1
–
–
–
Pope Physical Education Center Brooklyn, NY
Feb 21, 1970 *
No. 3
Long Island
W 71–61
19–1
–
–
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Feb 25, 1970 *
No. 3
Canisius
W 91–68
20–1
–
–
–
Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, NY
Mar 1, 1970 *
No. 3
vs. Niagara
W 104–68
21–1
–
–
–
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, NY
Mar 5, 1970 *
No. 4
at Fairfield
W 86–59
22–1
–
20 – Lanier
–
Alumni Hall Fairfield, CT
NCAA tournament
Mar 7, 1970 *
No. 4
vs. No. 10 Davidson
W 85–72
23–1
28 – Lanier
16 – Gantt
–
Carnesecca Arena (5,320)New York, NY
Mar 12, 1970 *
No. 3
vs. No. 10 NC State Regional semifinal
W 80–68
24–1
24 – Lanier
19 – Lanier
–
Carolina Coliseum (12,316)Columbia, SC
Mar 14, 1970 *
No. 3
vs. Villanova Regional final
W 97–74
25–1
26 – Lanier
18 – Gantt
–
Carolina Coliseum (10,981)Columbia, SC
Mar 19, 1970 *
No. 3
vs. No. 4 Jacksonville National semifinal
L 83–91[ 8]
25–2
16 – Gantt
13 – Gary
–
Cole Fieldhouse College Park, MD
Mar 21, 1970 *
No. 3
vs. No. 5 New Mexico State Consolation
L 73–79
25–3
22 – Gary
11 – Gary
–
Cole Fieldhouse College Park, MD
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
E=East.
All times are in
Eastern Time .
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Final AP 17 20 — 19 12 5 4 4 3 4 4 3 3 4 3 Coaches 16 20 16 10 7 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 3
Awards and honors
Team players in the 1970 NBA draft
[ 9]
References
^ "1969-70 St. Bonaventure Bonnies Roster and Stats" . College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "Bob Lanier College Stats" . College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com . Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "What we said 50 years ago when St. Bonaventure made Final Four" . The Buffalo News . December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "1970 Bonnies: Weise wonders what might have been" . Democrat and Chronicle . March 12, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "Bonnies Crush Dukes, 77-58" . The Pittsburgh Press via newspapers.com . December 21, 1969. p. 83. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "Still in Holiday Mood! Bonnies Rumble, 96-63" . New York Daily News . January 4, 1970. p. 56. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "BONNY YEAR FOR BUFFALO BOB" . Sports Illustrated . January 19, 1970. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "ST. BONAVENTURE BEATEN BY 91-83" . New York Times . March 20, 1970. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
^ "1970 NBA Draft" . Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019 .
Venues Rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA Final Four appearances in italics