March 1, 2013

Philadelphia, Pa. - The Fordham University men'¬s basketball squad continues its Atlantic 10 season with a trip to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, on Saturday night as the Rams face the Saint Joseph's University Hawks in the Michael J. Hagan Arena at 7:00 PM.

The game will be streamed live at SJUHawks.com (Fee Required) and will be broadcast live on WFUV (90.7 FM) and on the internet at wfuv.org.

Fordham enters the game with a 6-22 record, 2-11 in the Atlantic 10, after a 72-55 conference setback to the University of Richmond in the Rose Hill Gym last Saturday afternoon. Saint Joseph's enters the game with a 15-11 overall record, 6-7 in the A-10, and is coming off a 70-53 conference loss at #18/19 Saint Louis on Wednesday.

On the court, Fordham is led by junior guard Branden Frazier who is leading the Rams in scoring, averaging 14.3 ppg, 12th best in the Atlantic 10, netting double figures in 14 of his past 20 games. He also leads the team in assists with 142, third best in the A-10 (5.1/game), and is second on the squad in three-pointers made (42) and tied for first in steals (25). Senior Chris Gaston, who returned to action against Butler after missing seven games with an injury, is averaging 14.5 ppg and 7.9 rpg on the year while freshman guard Mandell Thomas is averaging 15.9 ppg over the past nine games and a team-high 14.3 ppg in Atlantic 10 games. Thomas is shooting 51.5% (17-33) from behind the arc over the past nine games.

Saturday night's contest will be the 46th meeting between Fordham and Saint Joseph's on the hardwood. The Hawks lead the all-time series, which started in the 1919-20 season, 29-16, and have won the past seven meetings, including a 66-62 victory earlier this year on January 30 in the Rose Hill Gym as Carl Jones netted 19 points and Ronald Roberts had ten points and ten rebounds for the Hawks while Branden Frazier scored a game-high 24 for the Rams and Mandell Thomas added 17.

Jesuit Basketball Spotlight
The matchup between Fordham and Saint Joseph's is part of the nationwide Jesuit Basketball Spotlight project, using Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of Jesuit education. Both Fordham and Saint Joseph's are Jesuit schools.

The Jesuit Basketball Spotlight project highlights more than 90 games this season between men's and women's teams from the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities across the United States. Each of the 28 is dedicated to strong academics and teaching women and men to serve others and live a faith that does justice.

The spotlight project includes awareness announcements during these designated games and during gamecasts on radio and television; and other awareness opportunities. Jesuit, Catholic colleges and universities in the United States have more than 200,000 students currently and more than 1.7 million living alumni. The Jesuit educational mission began in Europe approximately 500 years ago.