Expectations are rising down in Olean. After nearly a decade of futility resulting from a recruiting scandal, St. Bonaventure is recapturing the interest of its fans and taking aim at its first winning season since 2001-02.

The Bonnies get another opportunity to measure their progress with tonight's 7 p.m. matchup

against St. John's of the Big East at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. It's the first meeting

between the schools since 1985.

Bona passed its first test with strong grades in beating Cleveland State, 72-62, in the

Reilly Center on Friday. Sophomore big man Andrew Nicholson, last year's Atlantic 10 Rookie of

the Year, dominated the paint in the first half. Senior guard Jonathan Hall, who led the team

in scoring, rebounding and assists last year, was typically solid. Sophomore guard Michael

Davenport produced 19 points off the bench, a most welcome sign for a team that could use

another scorer to offset point guard Malcolm Eleby, who remains content to run the show

instead of asserting himself on the offensive end.

While the offense fit nicely against the Vikings, it's defense that distinguished the

Bonnies. They confounded Cleveland State with a three-quarter court trap that either forced

turnovers or delayed the Vikings from running their offensive sets.

"Our defense really led our offense," Bona coach Mark Schmidt said. "The pressure affected

them. We got a lot of stuff off our press. It made the game go up and down more like we wanted

it to. You're going to win with defense. One of the reasons we had 15 wins last season was we

defended and rebounded."

Bona will finish the week at 7 p.m. Friday in the Reilly Center against Binghamton, which is

down to six walk-ons, five freshmen and three returnees following legal and recruiting issues

that led to the dismissal of six players. Former Temple guard Mark Macon is coaching in place

of Kevin Broadus, who was placed on indefinite leave pending investigations.

Humble pie

The University at Buffalo's 58-57 loss to Vermont on Sunday at Alumni Arena was a stunner on

multiple counts. The Catamounts had suffered a double-digit loss to Loyola (Md.), expected to

be a middle-of-the-pack Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team, in their opener. The Bulls

are the deepest they've ever been on the front line and return an All-Mid-American Conference

guard in Rodney Pierce. So what happened? Pierce shot 2 of 15, forward Max Boudreau fouled out

in 10 minutes and the Bulls spent 30 minutes trying to make a living on the perimeter before

finally discovering the inside.

When the Bulls shoot it reasonably well from the outside they'll be fine. Both Pierce and

newcomer Zach Filzen can fill it up. But it's in their best interests to work the offense from

inside out to avoid situations like Sunday's. Interesting, too, that freshman point guard Tony

Watson never saw the floor although the Bulls could have used a point guard capable of

breaking down the defense off the dribble. Senior point guard John Boyer is solid on many

fronts (six assists, seven rebounds against Vermont), but he's not going to create off the

dribble out of an offensive set.

The Bulls will get back to it Thursday night at Navy, which went 19-11 last year. They'll

remain in Maryland for a Saturday game against Towson, which beat UB's MAC brother, Miami, by

11 in its opener. Towson has a formidable post player in 6-foot-8 Calvin Lee, who produced 25

points and four blocks against Miami.xleg

Line 'em up

They just can't get enough November basketball at Niagara. The Purple Eagles were back on

the court this morning for an 8 a.m. game against Drexel after dropping their opener at

Auburn, 69-65, Friday night. Then it's on to Central Florida this weekend for a tournament

that will include games against Howard, Central Florida and Austin Peay.

Come March, Niagara could be ruing that near upset of Auburn, which came from seven down

with 2:24 to play. A victory over an SEC foe would have been a big boost for the Purple Eagles

in the Ratings Percentage Index that the NCAA Selection Committee selectively employs to

determine at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament. Quality of schedule (and wins) hurt the

Purple Eagles last spring when they lost to Siena in the MAAC final and were passed over

despite 26 wins. But let's be honest. Conferences like the MAAC and the Mid-American will

receive no more than one bid nine years out of 10, and perhaps even less frequently.

Point guard Anthony Nelson, who began to show more offensive assertiveness late last

season, picked up where he left off by scoring a team-high 17 points. That kind of offensive

threat out of the point position is something both St. Bonaventure and UB lack.

Road tests

Canisius will be the lone member of the Big 4 yet to play a home game by the conclusion of

the week. The Golden Griffins, 11-20 a year ago, open tonight at Loyola (Ill.), a team that

went 14-18 last year with a victory over 15th-ranked Butler. Canisius will return east to face

St. Francis (N.Y.) on Saturday afternoon. Loyola was rolled by Kansas, 92-54, in its opener

while St. Francis fell to Brown, 68-64, and has Boston College tonight.

Canisius started putting it together late last season, winning four of its last six with

both losses to MAAC champion Siena. Coach Tom Parrotta returns the nucleus of that team and

leadership abounds.