# 1969–70 St. Bonaventure Brown Indians men's basketball team

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. St. Bonaventure advanced to the only Final Four in program history. Lanier suffered a knee injury in the Regional final against Villanova and did not play in the Final Four, but would be the top pick in the 1970 NBA draft and go on to a Hall of Fame career.

## 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | 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

* Bob Lanier – Consensus First-Team All-American

## Team players in the 1970 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 1 | Bob Lanier | Detroit Pistons |