Saint Joseph's Athletics Game Notes for Hawks at Cornell

On Sunday December 6, Cornell hosts Saint Joseph's of the Atlantic 10 Conference. ESPN Bracketologist, Joe Lunardi will be in the house calling the game on the radio for WNTP Radio. Below are the game notes from St. Joseph's Athletics.

Men's Basketball Visits Cornell on Sunday
Game will be broadcast on WNTP Radio (990 AM)
Saint Joseph's Athletics

Dec. 3, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team will look to get back to its winning ways when it visits Cornell (6-2) on Sunday, December 6. Game time at Newman Arena is 2 p.m.

The game can be heard on WNTP Radio (990 AM) with Matt Martucci and Joe Lunardi calling the action. Audio streaming will be available free of charge on SJUHawks.com, via Stretch Internet.

Game Notes

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GAME NOTES: • Senior Darrin Govens scored his 1,000th career point against Rider, when he tallied 10. Entering this season, the guard needed 70 to eclipse the plateau. He becomes the 48th player in school history to reach the mark. • After starting the season with three wins, the Hawks have lost three straight. • Looming on the horizon for the Hawks is a date with #3 Villanova in a nationally-televised contest at The Palestra on Wednesday, December 9. • Phil Martelli is in his 15th season as head coach and his 25th at the University. Martelli served as an assistant coach for 10 years on the staffs of Jim Boyle and John Griffin. • Saint Joseph's is celebrating the Centennial of SJU Basketball this year, as the inaugural season took place in 1909-10.

LAST TIME OUT: Five Saint Joseph's players scored in double figures, led by junior Idris Hilliard's 13 points, but it wasn't enough as the Hawks fell to Rider, 81-73, before a sellout crowd at Alumni Gymnasium.Freshman Justin Crosgile scored 12 points in his Hawk debut after missing the first five games recovering from hand surgery. Garrett Williamson scored 11 points despite playing just 22 minutes because of foul trouble. Darrin Govens and Bryant Irwin chipped in 10 points each, while Govens scored his 1,000th career point. The fast-paced game featured 10 lead changes, with eight in the second half. Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first half and although Rider led, 25-18, the Hawks fought back to tie it at 25-25, on a layup by Crosgile. A 3-pointer by Govens gave SJU the 37-31 lead with 3:49 to play, but Rider closed out the half with a 12-3 run to own a 43-40 lead at halftime. Both teams' shooting percentages dipped in the second half (Rider 37.5%, SJU 34.4%). Rider had a 54-48 lead but SJU countered with a 12-0 run to take a 60-54 edge. Rider quickly came back with a 10-2 run of its own to go up, 64-60, with 6:44 to play. Back to back points in the paint for Rider gave the Broncs a 72-64 lead with 1:45 to play. The Hawks were forced to foul and put the Broncs on the line the rest of the way and came as close as 75-71 on a 3-pointer by Carl Jones at :35. Rider closed out the contest going 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 28 seconds to seal the win.

A SELECT CLUB: Darrin Govens became the 48th player in Hawk history to score 1,000 career points when he tallied 10 points at Rider. The senior entered the season with 930.

JUST-IN TIME: Justin Crosgile scored 12 points at Rider in his Hawk debut, after missing the first six games after recovering from surgery (Oct. 9) on a torn ligament in his left thumb. Crosgile shot 4-for-9 from the field and handed out three assists in 22 minutes.

NOT ON BOARD: Rebounding is one of the areas Phil Martelli needs to address as the Hawks have been outrebounded in all but one contest. SJU's rebounding margin of -8.2 ranks last in the Atlantic 10, while the Hawks also rank last in defensive rebounding. Here's the game-by-game breakdown: SJU Rebounds Opp. Rebounds SJU Margin Drexel 34 45 -11 Holy Cross 50 33 -17 Boston College 38 46 -8 Purdue 36 39 -3 DePaul 32 30 +2 Rider 32 44 -12

DAZZLING DEBUT: Freshman Carl Jones was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for Nov. 22 as he averaged 17.0 in two wins. The 5-11 guard has come off the bench and scored double figures in three of four games, with a high of 18 vs. Holy Cross. Jones hit three 3-pointers against Boston College, while tallying 16 points. Physically, Jones may be slight, but Phil Martelli praised the freshman after the Holy Cross win, saying, "He's got a big ticker. At the end of games, guys need to be willing to miss a shot, not just take a shot. And he's willing to do that. And that bodes well."

SPEED IT UP: Phil Martelli's looking for the Hawks to play a faster-paced game this season. The Hawks are averaging 53.5 field goal attempts, and took a high of 61 shots at Rider.

STEADY AS THEY COME: Senior Garrett Williamson showed true leadership down the stretch against Boston College as he tallied 10 points in the final two minutes, while making 7-of-8 free throws.

HOT HAND: Darrin Govens definitely had it in the second half of the BC win, as he hit three of his game-high four 3-pointers in a span of six minutes. Govens tops the team with 13 3-pointers made this year.

OUTSIDE THREAT: Chris Prescott is emerging as a solid outside threat for the Hawks as he is hitting 60 percent from 3-point range, which is the third best percentage in the Atlantic 10. The sophomore starter has converted 9-of-15 attempts.

BALANCED ATTACK: Entering the season, Phil Martelli stressed that the Hawks will need a balanced scoring attack and they've done that so far. SJU has had one game with four players in double figures (Drexel) and one with five double-figure scorers (Rider). In four of the six games, they've had at least nine players get into the scoring column.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Hawks will play in Philadelphia for the first time in over three weeks when they host rival Villanova on December 9 at The Palestra in a nationally-televised contest (ESPN2). SJU then goes back on the road to visit Minnesota on December 12.

THIS DATE IN HAWK HISTORY: December 6, 2005 - Chet Stachitas went 6-for-7 from beyond the arc and scored 27 points to lead the Hawks to a 70-67 victory over Kansas in the nationally-televised Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.