Dec. 7, 2012

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Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham University Rams continue their 2012-13 season, the 110th season of varsity basketball at Rose Hill, by traveling into Manhattan to take on the St. John's University Red Storm at Madison Square Garden as part of the 2012 MSG Holiday Festival on Saturday, December 8 at 7:00 PM. The game will be televised live in the MSG+ Network with Don LaGreca and Vin Parise as the announcers.

The game will also be broadcast live on WFUV (90.7 FM) and on wfuv.org as well as being streamed live at www.FordhamSports.com with Mack Rosenberg and Alex Smith calling the action. You can also follow the game via Live Stats.

Fordham enters the game with a 1-7 record after an 81-63 loss at Lehigh University on Tuesday night. St. John's enters the game with a 6-3 record and is coming off an 81-65 loss at the University of San Francisco on Tuesday night.

Saturday night's contest will be the 84th meeting between Fordham and St. John's on the hardwood with the Red Storm leading the all-time series, which started in 1909, 62-21. St. John's won last year's game, 56-50, on December 17 at Madison Square Garden as D'Angelo Harrison scored 15 points and Moe Harkless added 13 points and a game-high 16 rebounds while Fordham won the previous meeting, 84-81, in the Rose Hill Gym on December 11, 2010, behind 22 points from Brenton Butler and 20 from Alberto Estwick as the Rams overcame a 20-point halftime deficit.

On the court, Fordham is led by junior guard Branden Frazier, who is averaging a team-high 15.6 ppg and he leads the team with 39 assists, while sophomore guard Bryan Smith is averaging 10.4 ppg and he leads the squad with 15 three-pointers. Ryan Canty has picked up his game lately, averaging 14.0 ppg and 7.3 rpg over the past three games and 6.5 ppg and 4.6 rpg on the year. He leads the team and is second in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage, hitting 25 of his 38 attempts (65.8%) and with seven blocks and is second in rebounding.

Senior Chris Gaston is netting 11.3 ppg and a team-high 8.7 rpg but will be out of action for the next few weeks due to an injury. Gaston, who led the team in scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.9 rpg) last year, has 937 career rebounds, fifth all-time at Fordham, and 1,462 career points, ninth all-time at Rose Hill. He is 31 rebounds behind Bill McCadney (1955-58) for fourth on the all-time rebounding list and 62 points behind Brenton Butler on the all-time scoring list.

McLaughlin to be honored
Longtime Fordham Athletic administrator Frank McLaughlin will be honored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Madison Square Garden as one of five recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards during halftime of the Fordham-St. John's game as part of the MSG Holiday Festival on Dec. 8 at The Garden.

McLaughlin will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ECAC along with other former athletic directors Jack Kaiser (St. John's), Rich Petriccione (Iona) and Bob Mulcahy (Rutgers). St. John's coaching legend Lou Carnesecca will also be honored with a Lifetime Coaching Excellence Award. Saturday will mark the first time the awards have been presented.