Hawks Take On the Dragons in a New Year’s Tradition
Monday, December 31st, 2007By LoudaGuru
The St. Joseph’s Hawks bring in the New Year with a battle against the Drexel University Dragons. This game pits the Hawks, a member of the famed Philadelphia Big Five - Temple, Villanova, LaSalle, Penn - against a city rival whose campus is located less than a mile from the legendary college basketball mecca the Palestra. Drexel, under Coach James “Bruiser” Flint, in recent seasons has beaten their city foes after being unable to schedule these teams for years. The Dragons, playing out of the Colonial Athletic Conference, were denied an at-large-bid to the NCAA Tournament last season, despite a 23-9 record. So far this season the results have been up and down. Starting out with 5 wins, one loss, the Dragons then lost four straight games averaging 45 ppg.
Thursday night, Drexel beat Rider University 73-66 after coming back from a 10 point deficit. Sparks were provided by Tremayne Hawkins, averaging 11.3 ppg, who scored all of his 15 points in the second half comeback. Randy Oveneke added 10 points, Scott Rodgers 13 points, Gerald Colds 14 points and Frank Elegar,13.3 ppg, chipped in with 9 points.
St. Joseph’s, winners of two straight, is trying to establish their longest winning streak of the season. The Hawks are playing their fifth game on New Year’s Eve in the last seven years. Facing high caliber opponents Gonzaga, Ohio State, Seton Hall - their record has not been very good in this holiday game. However, Coach Phil Martelli has made the game a tradition that is televised on CN8, The Comcast Network. These games are often used as showcases when recruiting today’s high school phenoms. St Joe’s, in pursuit of under recognized players rarely recruited by top 40 programs, must get some top notch talent to stay in the national spotlight after the Jameer Nelson era.
Led by a balanced attack, all of the Hawks’ starters averaged double digits. Senior Pat Calathes, 17.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, has developed into a fixture in the lineup. Frontcourt mates senior Rob Ferguson and 6-9 junior Ahmad Nivins, an All Atlantic-10 selection, are keys to helping the team get a NCAA bid in March. A key transfer is Tasheed Carr who sat out last season after a year at Iowa State. Tough, able to score and run the offense, Carr has blended nicely with the team. He is from Philadelphia along with D.J. Rivera, who returns after missing the first semester to concentrate on academics. Once all the players understand Coach Martelli’s schemes, St. Joes could be a force in determining who wears the A-10 crown.