O’Brien back with team

Saint Joseph’s junior center Todd O’Brien was cleared to return to the men’s basketball team today following a nine-day leave of absence, according the the Athletic Communications department at St. Joe’s.  O’Brien had been ruled out of both the games against Xavier, Temple, and UMass over the past week due to a failure to comply with the University’s community standards.  His return to the team marks the end of the school’s judicial process.

A press release stated that both O’Brien and guard Patrick Swilling were to be inactive shortly before their game against Xavier on Feb. 16.  On Feb. 20, the day of the game against Temple, another press release was issued that stated Swilling was no longer enrolled in the University and that O’Brien would remain away from the team until the judicial process had been completed.

O’Brien has appeared in 19 games this season.  He averages seven minutes per game, 1.1 points per game, and 1.3 rebounds per game.

The Hawks (7-20, 2-11 A-10) return to action Saturday against St. Bonaventure (15-11, 7-6).  The game tips off at 4 p.m. at Hagan Arena.

-James Hill

St. Joe’s vs. Xavier LIVE GAME BLOG

St. Joe’s enters tonight’s game riding a winning streak.  While it is only two games long, that phrase can finally be uttered for the first time in the year 2011.  The Hawks have gotten great backcourt play in the last two games–against UMass and at Fordham– in order to give them their first two Atlantic 10 wins.

The story of late has been the play of freshman Langston Galloway.  The guard has scored 25 points in each of the last two games and has been named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week in each of the last two weeks.  He led the Hawks in leading-scorer Carl Jones’ absence in a 67-64 win over UMass that snapped the Hawks’ nine-game losing streak.

He led three Hawk guards in double figures with another 25-point performance on Sunday in St. Joe’s comeback win over Fordham.  Carl Jones (15 points) and Charoy Bentley (14 points) also reached double figures for the Hawks.

Tonight’s opponent is the 18-6 Xavier Musketeers.  Xavier is led in scoring by their two guards, Tu Holloway (20.7 points per game) and Mark Lyons (13.5 points per game).  They are joined in double figures by the frontcourt tandem of Kenny Frease (11.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg) and Jamel McLean (11.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg).

St. Joe’s vs UMass LIVE GAME BLOG

We’re back at Hagan Arena after a 17-day hiatus and some things still have not changed: namely the Hawks are still winless in league play and still have not won in 2011.  The Hawks (5-17, 0-8 A-10) have not had much go their way lately as their losing streak is now at nine.

The problem on offense remains the same for the Hawks: there is no one who consistently scores once one’s eyes wander past Carl Jones’ name in the box score. Jones scored 21 points in Wednesday’s loss to Richmond to push his team-high scoring average to an even 18 points per game.  After that, however, the scoring drops off significantly.  Langston Galloway averages 10.8 points per game but seems to have hit the freshman fatigue wall since the year turned over.

The Hawks desperately need to solve that problem tonight. Jones has been ruled out of tonight’s game with a sprained ankle sustained in practice.  Jones prepared with the hopes of playing, but has been ruled out 45 minutes before tip.  Senior guard Charoy Bentley will start in his place.  Bentley averages 7.3 minutes per game and 1.4 points per game—a far cry from Jones’ totals.