After its big win against Temple in December, the men's basketball team went South to the Alabama-Birmingham Classic. So did the team's offense, defense and 5-0 record.

Now, after a 2-4 road trip, the Lions (7-4, 1-2 in the Atlantic 10) are finally back home. At 2 tomorrow afternoon the Lions host St. Bonaventure and they hope the friendly confines of Rec Hall solve their problems. The team was soaring after its win over conference opponent Temple, but crashed back to earth with losses to conference foes Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

"The younger your team is, the more the road has a tendency to affect the team," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "But I really don't think that's an excuse for playing the way we did the last two games. I think the guys kind of got in a mental rut without realizing it, and they had to pay the price for that. Coming back here will hopefully snap them out of that rut."

"I think most of the guys are more comfortable and more aggressive here," point guard Freddie Barnes said. "I think having the fan support on our side will help us out. Regardless, we still have to win on the road to be a good team."

Before the road trip the Lions averaged 72 points a game. Now, including a loss to No. 18 Arizona, they are averaging only 59 points a game. That total was supposed to be higher this year with the Monroe Brown and Barnes leading a fast-break offense.

That backcourt, however, is hurting. Barnes injured his ankle at the UAB Classic and is recovering from the flu. He will be healthy enough to play tomorrow, though. Brown broke his middle finger against Rhode Island, but also will play against the Bonnies.

Freddie Barnes' 10.4 points a game is second to center Ed Fogell's 14.0. Forward James Barnes is averaging 8.6 and leads the team in rebounding with 6.6 a game. Freshman DeRon Hayes, who did not score against Southwest Texas State or UMass, is averaging 7.8. Brown averages 5.4 a game and Dave Degitz is the top scorer off the bench, averaging 5.0.

"We would have had a chance to win our last two games had we played better defense and rebounding," Parkhill said. "But I think our lack of confidence offensively has affected the team at the other end of the floor, which is a cardinal sin."

"The last good game we had was against Temple, and then we had a six-game road trip that we really didn't put together," Fogell said. "So, this week we're trying to get that winning attitude back."

St. Bonaventure (5-5, 1-1) upset Rutgers, last year's conference champ, 75-72, earlier in the season. Lately, however, the Bonnies they have not been playing well. Last week they lost to both Bucknell (95- 82) and West Virginia (105-65).

Sophomore forward Kenrich Hamilton (6'8") leads the team with 12.1 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. He is shooting 54 percent from the field.

Other top scorers are point guard Rob Lanier (11.7), guard Michael Burnett (10.6), forward Jason Brower (10.2) and forward Donald Burnett (9.7).

Parkhill said the Bonnies are better than last year when they went 13-15.

"They have three or four guys that can score 20 points in a game," Parkhill said. "They're a team that's looking to bounce back. They lost their last game and we've lost our last two, so I think both teams are really looking to this game as a big game."