Hawks qualify for Atlantic 10 Tournament following win

In what was the de facto opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, the Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team held on in a nail-biter in Charlotte.  The Hawks (9-21, 4-12 A-10), who entered the game with a one-game lead on Charlotte (10-20, 2-14 A-10) in the conference standings, won by a count of 71-70 after relinquishing a nine-point, second-half lead.

Langston Galloway,  ’14, tied his career high with 27 points on 8-11 shooting (6-7 from three-point range).  Galloway sunk one of two free throws with four seconds left in the game to give the Hawks the advantage.  It became the winning margin once a three-pointer from 49er Derrio Green, who had hit a three with 12 seconds left to tie the game, went awry.

With the win, the Hawks clinched the 12th and final spot in next week’s Atlantic 10 Tournament. After opening the conference season with eight straight losses (nine straight when including a loss to Big-Five Rival Penn), St. Joe’s managed to finish 4-4 in its last eight games to prolong its season.  Charlotte, the only conference team to knock off A-10 champ Xavier this year, lost eight games in a row to finish the season.

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.

St. Joe’s vs. Temple LIVE GAME BLOG

10:51… The Worldwide Leader in Sports is here, bagels and orange juice replaced pizza and soda as the spread in the media room, and a number of bleery-eyed college students have descended upon the Palestra for this morning’s Big Five and Atlantic 10 tilt between the Temple Owls (14-5, 4-2 A-10) and the Saint Joseph’s Hawks (5-15, 0-6 A-10).

Today’s match-up features two teams headed in opposite directions.  Temple is enjoying its usual success in the Atlantic 10.  The Owls always seem to find themselves in the thick of the Atlantic 10 race, usually either winning the regular season or tournament championship over the past few years.  Meanwhile, the Hawks, losers of seven straight, keep finding new ways to lose as the Phil Martelli remains stuck on 294 wins.

Saint Joseph’s vs. UPenn LIVE BLOG

The Hawks step out of conference tonight as they descend upon the Palestra to tangle with the Penn Quakers.  Saint Joseph’s, in the midst of a five-game spiral, hope to find their way against the 5-8 Ivy League squad.

If the Hawks are to win tonight, they may have to do it without freshman big man CJ Aiken.  Aiken, who has started all 18 games thus far, averages 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and a conference-leading 3.8 blocks per game.  His last time out, Aiken electrified the Hagan arena crowd, throwing down three fast break dunks and sinking two corner threes to help give the Hawks a 37-35 halftime lead against Rhode Island.  Aside from his defense, he disappeared in the second half, scoring his 12 points in the game in the first half.  He did finish with seven blocks.  Aiken warmed up with the team, but is out of the starting line-up tonight and is questionable to play at all.  Fellow freshman Ronald Roberts will start in his place.

Saint Joseph’s vs. Rhode Island LIVE BLOG

The students are back on campus and, after a two-game road swing, so are the Hawks.  St. Joe’s will need the energy from the home crowd to snap it’s four-game losing streak tonight against the Rhode Island Runnin’ Rams.  Rhody is coming off a pair of wins against Richmond and St. Bonaventure and stand at 11-6 overall, 2-1 in the conference.

The Hawks dropped the pair of road contests, at Dayton and Saint Louis, and are now looking for some home-cooking to right the ship and get them on track in the Atlantic 10 season.  St. Joe’s is winless in four conference games, dropping games to Duquesne and George Washington. The Hawks find themselves in the basement, 3.5 games behind leaders Duquesne, Xavier, and George Washington.  This cold streak leaves Head Coach Phil Martelli six games shy of his 300th career victory.

Browns demote Quinn following awful start

Ten quarters into his tenure as a starter in the NFL, Cleveland Browns quarterback Brady Quinn was again relegated to riding the pine, likely evoking thoughts of “Here we go again” from football fans in South Bend, New York City, Chicago, and Cincinnati-essentially anywhere the University of Notre Dame has a significant alumni base. [picapp src=”c/8/d/e/New_York_Jets_eb6f.jpg?adImageId=4656312&imageId=1654721″ width=”380″ height=”253″ /]

Quinn has a tremendous upside: big arm, athleticism, and the ability to read a defense well.  He’s had two years to learn to be a quarterback at the professional level and has all the big-time college football experience any new starter in the NFL would love to have.  Seems perfect, right? At least until you notice his knack for saving his worst for when the spotlight is shining brightest.

Toronto’s ace ice cold

What kind of an ace is Roy Halladay? With a 144-73 career record, a lifetime ERA of 3.47, and only being 32 years of age, it’s hard to find many—if any—more qualified pitchers to build a staff around (and keep in mind these stats come on a team that has to the Yankees and the Red Sox a combined 38 times each season).

By June 7, Halladay was on track to have a career year.  His complete-game shutout of Kansas City that day ran his record to 10-1, and dropped his ERA to a tidy 2.52.

On July 6, Halladay’s season was turned upside-down.  Blue Jays’ GM J.P. Ricciardi announced that day that he would listen to offers for the 11-year veteran.  Even the typically cool-under-pressure Halladay was not able to pitch out of the off-the-field jam his GM put him in.

Paulus breaking down a whole new defense

The beleaguered Syracuse Orange football program reached a whole new level of desperation on Monday when they named Greg Paulus it’s starting quarterback for the 2009 campaign.  While any college program would roll out the red carpet for a signal-caller who completed 66 percent of his passes, 43 touchdowns, and a state-record 3,677 yards as a high school senior, few would do so for a player four years removed from their last competitive drop back.

Clearly Syracuse needed to try something.  After the failure of Greg Robinson, who went 10-37 with a 3-25 conference record in his four-year tenure, newly-appointed head coach Doug Marrone’s hands were virtually tied.  How do you not start the city’s prodigal son?  The prized recruit Syracuse lost to Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke basketball program would have to start on his abysmal hometown team.

While Paulus under center may be the best way to bolster attendance figures and put the program back in the national spotlight regardless of their win total or competitive level, is it plausible to think he can adequately lead a Divison I football team?