Guest Contributor Ray Floriani -- At the Holiday Festival

by Ray Floriani

New York City - The format of the MSG Holiday Festival went through another alteration. Up until a few years ago it was contested just after Christmas. Since then it has been before December 25th and this season was not a true tournament. No semifinal and final doubleheader -- just a twin bill -- this past Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

The Holiday Festival logo

The scores:

Rutgers	67		58	Stony Brook
St. John's	56		50	Fordham

Possession and efficiency:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Stony Brook	66	88
Rutgers	63	106

View of MSG

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Fordham	68	73
St. John's	68	83

Notes & Points of Emphasis
1. Rutgers was tested.
The American East representatives, Stony Brook worked hard on the offensive glass showing a 46-32% edge in offensive rebounding percentage. Rutgers coach Mike Rice pointed out , partially in jest, that his Scarlet Knights (6-5) had too much holiday spirit and were willing to give up second chances to the Seawolves. Stony Brook did not have an easy time finishing those opportunities showing only a 13-9 lead in second chance points. Stony Brook (3-6) basically lived on the perimeter and shot better from three (7 of 24 for 29%) than from two (9 of 36 and 25%). Rutgers shot 56% from two en route to a 54% eFG mark. Both teams had identical and sloppy 24% TO rates. Myles Mack of Rutgers led all scorers with 22 points. The freshman guard did not start but proved the old axiom 'it is more important who finishes rather than starts the game'. Mack used 18% of the Scarlet Knight possessions and obviously was very much involved.

Rutgers coach Mike Rice feels his team was in a holiday mode
giving too many offensive rebounding 'gifts'

2. Fordham is improved
They entered MSG at 4-5. Tom Pecora is getting double figure scoring from three players, none are seniors. Junior Chris Gaston leads at 14.6 PPG while the backcourt of sophomore Branden Frazier (10.0) and freshman Devon McMillan (11.6) has been effective.

Against St. John's there were opportunities. Gaston got inside but struggled to finish. He scored 11 points, grabbed 14 rebounds (5 offensive) but was 4 of 16 from the field. Both clubs failed to hit 40% eFG with Fordham at 36% and St. John's not much better with 38%. The young Ram backcourt did a nice job caring for the ball with a 15% TO rate, compared to St. John's' 22%. Red Storm got the big and arguable game decisive advantage on the offensive glass. They showed a 42-24% dominance in offensive rebounding percentage. God's Gift Achiuwa (5) and Moe Harkness (3) accounted for half of the 16 St. John's offensive boards. Harkness, a 6-8 freshman swing man, had a nice 13 point, 16 rebound double-double.

3. St. John's has concerns
The Red Storm is now 5-5. Beyond the .500 won-lost record are other issues. The exit of Nurideen Lindsey further depletes an already thin squad. In the first half against Fordham the starters went the entire way. For the game, four players put in the full forty minutes. The only one who did not was freshman guard Sir Dominic Pointer who put in 36 minutes and spelled by Malik Stith for only 4 minutes. The biggest concerns in this situation are foul trouble -- the Storm do zone frequently to stay out of that situation -- and injuries. They can ill afford an injury to anyone. With Big East play and its physical nature, practices, plus Winter and the illnesses it can bring coming up, St. John's will be embarking on conference play in a very tenuous circumstance.

The Stony Brook band entertained
and enjoyed their MSG appearance

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Saint Joseph's at Fordham

by Ray Floriani
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - It looked like this might be the day. For a half at least. Fordham jumped out to a 12 point lead at the break before St. Joseph's came back for a 76-70 victory at the Izod Center.

Afternoon at the Izod

The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
St. Joseph's	57	35	31	12
Fordham	49	54	35	16

The Tale of Two Halves:
The first half...

			Off.
	Poss.	Pts.	Eff.
St. Joseph's	33	31	94
Fordham	32	43	134

The second half...

			Off.
	Poss.	Pts.	Eff.
St. Joseph's	27	45	167
Fordham	32	27	84

The game...

			Off.
	Poss.	Pts.	Eff.
St. Joseph's	60	76	127
Fordham	70	64	109

Have to be impressed the way St. Joseph's came back. With a young team, on the road in the midst of a tough long season, the Hawks showed their will and stayed with it. The possessions show they did not get in a 'helter skelter' affair to rush in trying to cut the deficit. Rather, they took the approach that the final twenty minutes would provide ample opportunities to get the score to a manageable level and then put them in position to make their run.

Three point shooting was a key. The Hawks shot better beyond the arc than inside. The three point shooting came at a 64% rate (7 of 11) the second half. Two point shooting was 5 of 9 (56%). Overall St. Joseph's shot 60% (12 of 20) after going 11 of 31 (36%) the first half.

Both teams cared for the ball very well. Fordham had a slight rebounding edge offensively. Kervin Bristol and Chris Gaston had 10 rebounds each for the Rams.

Beside the increased offensive efficiency on the part of the Hawks, Fordham also struggled the final half as the production of two key players feel a bit. Alberto Estwick had a dozen at the half and Gaston had 8 points 7 boards in the books. The second half saw Estwick garner two points while Gaston had a relatively quiet 6 points 3 boards.

The damage inflicted on Fordham came courtesy of two young guards. Freshman Langston Galloway hit for 25 points while sophomore Carl Jones scored 15. Charoy Bentley, followed a solid performance against UMass, with a solid 14 points (5 of 7 shooting) in 23 minutes of relief. Langston and Jones however, took 43% of their team's shots while producing 53% of the points. They each scored a dozen in that game changing second half.

Fordham huddles before coming out the second half

Crunch Time
The shot chart the last eight minutes (St. Joseph's led 57-55 with eight to go) showed the Hawks scored six field goals. Four were off set offense. Two in transition and the last one on the break came by breaking full court pressure with under two minutes to go. The Rams had four field goals. Two were treys (by Branden Frazier) while the last two were on penetration baskets very late with the Hawks enjoying a two-three possession lead.

Numbers and Notes
Fordham is now 6-17 (0-11 in the A-10). St. Joseph's is 7-17 (2-8). Galloway's 25 points paced all scorers. Frazier and Brenton Butler paced the Rams with 17 points each.

One thing missing from the media room the prior two Fordham games at Izod was coffee. Today it was here, in full glory. Regular or decaf.

Win over Fordham was the Hawks' second straight. They entertain Xavier on Wednesday. Fordham's next game is also with Xavier, on the road February 19th. Win was number 1,500 in St. Joseph's long and tradition rich history.

"At the half I was worried about them (St. Joseph's )
playing harder than us the second half.
And they did." - Fordham coach Tom Pecora

Guest Contributor Ray Floriani: Temple at Fordham

by Ray Floriani

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - They showed the reason, or reasons, they are the front runner in the Atlantic Ten. Temple defeated Fordham 70-51 at the Izod Center in the A-10 opener for both teams

Outside the Izod
on a chilly night

The early seven point lead enjoyed by the Rams due to a fast start and some hot three point shooting, soon dissipated. Fordham cooled off from the field and Temple made a concerted effort on go inside. At the half the Owls enjoyed a significant 22-8 edge in points in the paint. Chris Gaston, the Rams main and arguably only inside threat, had a very ordinary 4 point half on 2 of 5 shooting. Halftime saw a 35-27 Temple advantage. The Owls used 37 possessions, Fordham 36. Temple enjoyed a clear cut 95-75 offensive efficiency edge at intermission.

The first four minutes of the second half saw Temple go on a 11-2 run, extending the lead to 46-29. The Owls attacked inside and out while Fordham's only basket was on a transition dunk by Chris Gaston.

The remainder of the second half was all Temple. The Owls were dominant and never seriously challenged the rest of the way.

The efficiency numbers:

		Off.
	Poss.	Eff.
Temple	71	99
Fordham	68	75

The Four Factors:

		FTA
	eFG%	FGA	OR%	TO%
Temple	49	16	46	25
Fordham	46	2	21	25

Temple's dominance on the inside game is reflected in the numbers. The Owls pounded the offensive glass, held a 38-18 points in the paint edge and as Fordham's free throw rate shows, did not allow the Rams to set up a post up game that could get them to the line.

Temple shot 52% (24 of 46) from two point range while Fordham was 35% (13 of 37).

Game action Temple vs. Fordham

Both teams were 25% on the TO rate. A fact not overlooked by Temple, a team that entered the contest with a sterling 18% TO rate.

Final Numbers.
Temple had four players in double figures. Reflecting their inside/outside offensive philosophy there were two interior and perimeter players among the four. Lavoy allen (12 points) and Micheal Eric (14 points 11 boards) did the job in the paint while Juan Fernandez and Ramone Moore had 15 apiece at the guard spot.

Branden Frazier, a freshman guard, paced Fordham with 16 points. Chris Gaston was defended very well and the Ram sophomore settled for 8 points, 5 rebounds on the night. Gaston shot 4 of 7 from the floor and struggled to get a decent look all night.

The 'Manley formula' efficiency leaders:

	Efficiency
Michael Eric, Temple	22
Branden Frazier, Fordham	18
Juan Fernandez, Temple	17
Ramone Moore, Temple	16

Temple is 10-3 (1-0 A-10) while the Rams are 6-7 (0-1).

Temple coach Fran Dunphy
has the Owls the class of the A-10