March 10, 2008

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham University men's basketball Rams will open the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championships as they face the Saint Joseph's University Hawks on Wednesday afternoon, March 12th, at 2:30 p.m. at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The game can be heard live on WFUV (90.7 FM) and on wfuv.org.

The 12th-seeded Rams, who will be looking for their third straight opening round win at the championships, enter the game with a 12-16 overall record after completing a 6-10 Atlantic 10 slate, and are coming off a 69-62 Atlantic 10 win over St. Bonaventure in the Rose Hill Gym on Saturday afternoon. Fifth-seeded Saint Joseph's enters the game with a 18-11 overall record, 9-7 in the conference, and is coming off a 79-67 Atlantic 10 loss at Dayton on Saturday.

Fordham will be led into the tournament by senior forward Bryant Dunston, a Queens native and a 2008 Second Team All-Atlantic 10 selection who became the Rams' all-time blocked shots leader earlier this year (291). On the year, Dunston is averaging 15.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg, both team highs, and he leads the conference in rebounding. He has recorded a double-double in eight of the past nine games and has a league-best 15 on the year. Senior guard Marcus Stout is second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.2 ppg while leading the squad in three-pointers made (71) and assists (80).

Saint Joseph's is led by senior forward Pat Calathes, who is averaging 17.8 ppg and 7.7 ppg, both team highs, while junior forward Ahmad Nivins is averaging 14.5 ppg and 5.7 rpg.

Wednesday's game will be the 40th meeting between Fordham and Saint Joseph's on the hardwood with the Hawks leading the all-time series, 23-16, including a 70-55 win over the Rams on February 2nd in Philadelphia. This will be the first meeting between the two teams at the Atlantic 10 Championship.

Live video streaming for the first three days of the tourney will be available on www.atlantic10.org for $9.95 per game. Current annual subscribers to CSTV XXL will be able to access all ten games as part of their subscription. However, monthly subscribers will have to purchase the contests via pay-per-view.

2008 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship Boardwalk Hall - Atlantic City, N.J.

Wednesday, March 12

Game 1 - #8 Dayton vs. #9 Saint Louis - 12:00

Game 2 - #5 Saint Joseph's vs. #12 Fordham - 2:30

Game 3 - #7 La Salle vs. #10 Duquesne - 6:30

Game 4 - #6 Charlotte vs. #11 Rhode Island - 9:00

Thursday, March 13

Game 5 - #1 Xavier vs. #8/#9 winner - 12:00 (CSTVR)

Game 6 - #4 Richmond vs. #5/#12 winner - 2:30 (CSTVR)

Game 7 - #2 Temple vs. #7/#10 winner - 6:30 (CSTVR)

Game 8 - #3 Massachusetts vs. #6/#11 winner - 9:00 (CSTVR)

Friday, March 14

Game 9 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 6:30 (CSTVR)

Game 10 - Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner - 9:00 (CSTVR)

Saturday, March 15

Finals - 6:00 (ESPN)