Nov. 14, 2011
PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's men's basketball will host Scranton in an exhibition game on Monday, November 14 at 7 p.m. at Hagan Arena. The game is dubbed as a "Jesuit Connection" event where the Campus Minstry offices from both schools will be collecting non-perishable food items for the less fortunate. All fans are encouraged to participate.
Tickets are available by calling 888-SJU-HAWK by 5 p.m. and they will also be available at the box office this evening.
The exhibition marks the first game in Hagan Arena for the Hawks this season as they opened the year on Friday with a 72-61 win over Western Kentucky.
Audio and video streaming of tonight's game will be available on SJUHawks.com free of charge. Click here to listen.
MBB Game Notes- Scranton
Click here to watch the free stream.
GAME NOTES: • SJU opened the season with a 72-61 win at Western Kentucky as Langston Galloway scored 19 points to lead five Hawks in double figures. • Tonight's game pits two Jesuit institutions against each other. It is an exhibition game and will not count in the Hawks' record or statistics. • The Hawks return four starters from last year's team which fell just three points short of the Atlantic 10 Championship game. Saint Joseph's won four of its last six games to make the run. • Phil Martelli enters his 17th year at Saint Joseph's and needs nine wins to become the Hawks' all-time leader in career victories. He now has 301 wins while current record-holder Bill Ferguson registered 309 in 25 seasons (1928-53). • Transfer Halil Kanacevic, who earned 2010 CAA All-Rookie honors while at Hofstra, will take to the court after sitting out last season. He has three seasons of eligibility with the Hawks. • Saint Joseph's is again sporting one of the youngest teams in the nation, with no seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and three freshmen. (More on page 6) • The Hawks go back on the road to the Charleston Classic later this week. SJU opens against Georgia Tech on Nov. 17 and will face either VCU or Seton Hall in the second round on Nov. 18. The third game of the eight-team tournament will take place on Nov. 20. • SJU will not host a regular-season game at Hagan Arena until November 26 against Penn State. But starting with that game, Saint Joseph's will play seven of eight games in Hagan Arena.
FLYING START: The Hawks got the season off to a good start with a 72-61 win at Western Kentucky. Ronald Roberts had 10 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Wilson scored 10 points and had a team-high five assists in his collegiate debut. Saint Joseph's, which led for all but the first minute of the game, held a 54-42 lead with 7:30 to play in the second half, but Western Kentucky went on a 9-2 run and closed to 56-51. Galloway gave the Hawks some breathing room with a three-point play and a three-pointer as SJU stretched its lead to 62-51 with 2:45 to play. C.J. Aikenfollowed with a dunk off a pass by Wilson to give the Hawks a 64-51 cushion. The Hilltoppers cut it to 66-58 at 1:20 on a three, but Jones and Wilson combined to hit 4-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to seal the win. The Hawks were hot from the field from the outset, hitting 8-of-11 shots in the first 10 minutes. SJU went on a 14-0 run to open up its biggest lead of the game, 22-6, at the 10:45 mark, while limiting Western Kentucky to a 2-for-16 shooting effort. Saint Joseph's went cold for a four-minute stretch of the half, allowing the Hilltoppers to close to within 31-24 at halftime. The Hawks shot 49 percent in the game while WKU hit just 26.5 percent of its shots.
SEEING DOUBLE: Ronald Robertsrecorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the season opener. Last season, he was the only Hawk to record a double-double, and that occurred in January.
DAZZLING DEBUT: Freshman Chris Wilsonhad 10 points and a team-high five assists in his collegiate debut at Western Kentucky. The rookie played 28 minutes off the bench.
FORCED TO SIT: Halil Kanacevicsaw limited action due to foul trouble in his highly-anticipated debut. The sophomore, who sat out last season after transferring from Hofstra, was whistled for two quick fouls and only played two minutes in the first half. He returned after halftime and met the same fate, and ended up playing a total of eight minutes.
BACK IN THE FOLD: Saint Joseph's returns six players from last season with four starters back - Ronald Roberts. C.J. Aiken is also back and was a starter in 21 games last season before Roberts moved into the starting lineup late in the year. Jones and Galloway were the top scorers on the squad, with Galloway also topping the team in rebounds. Taylor Trevisan, who was a walk-on last year, is the other returnee and has earned a scholarship for this season.
FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: Saint Joseph's is again sporting one of the most youthful squads in school history. This year's team is now the youngest under Phil Martelli, surpassing last season's, which had just a combined 11 years of college experience. Martelli started four freshmen on 2010-11 opening day, which was his youngest starting lineup ever.
EARLY HONORS: Langston Galloway and Chris Wilsonwere named to the Atlantic 10 Honor Roll for the week of November 14.
EXPERIENCED NEWCOMERS: Halil Kanacevicand Papa Ndao are two "new" Hawks, but will have much more familiarity with the team than the usual rookie. Kanacevic transferred to SJU at the beginning of last season and practiced with the team the entire year. He came to the Hawks from Hofstra, where he earned CAA All-Rookie honors in 2009-10, while averaging 8.5 points and 7.6 rebounds. In Kanacevic's collegiate debut at Kansas, the 6-8 forward registered a double-double 18 points and 12 rebounds. Ndao enrolled at SJU for the second semester and practiced with the squad the rest of the year, while redshirting the 2011-12 season. Kanacevic has three years of eligibility while Ndao has four.
A-10 ACCOLADES: Carl Jones has been named to the Preseason Alantic 10 All-Conference Team and C.J. Aikenwas named to the Preseason All-Defensive Team. The Hawks were picked seventh in the preseason poll.
NEWER FACES: SJU added three walk-ons to the squad this season - Christopher Coyne, Ryan Hess and Colin Kelly- giving the Hawks 13 players in practice. For each home game, one of the three players will dress for the game, on a rotational basis. However, they will not travel with the team this season. Coyne is a 6-2 junior guard (Brooklyn, N.Y.); Hess is a 6-2 freshman guard (Westfield, N.J.) and Kelly is a 6-5 sophomore forward (West Deptford, N.J.).
LOOKING AHEAD: Saint Joseph's travels to the Charleston Classic where it will face Georgia Tech in the first round on Nov. 17. The Hawks will meet either Seton Hall or VCU in the second round with the final game being played on Nov. 20. Other teams in the tournament are: LSU, Northwestern, Tulsa and Western Kentucky.
