GAME NOTES: Crosstown rivals close out the 2007 calendar year this evening as the Drexel Dragons and Saint Joseph's Hawks meet in the famed Palestra for a non-conference tilt. Drexel, which started out the campaign with three straight wins and five in the first six outings overall, struggled earlier this month with four consecutive setbacks but seems to have evened out. On Thursday night, the team picked up a 73-66 victory over the Rider Broncs in non-conference play, marking the second win in as many chances for the group. As for the Hawks, they too have won back-to-back outings thanks to a 74-68 triumph over the Siena Saints on Friday on the road. Even though this game is in Philadelphia, it is still considered a road game, which means Saint Joseph's still has a meeting with UMass on January 9th in Amherst before finally returning to Hawk Hill for the first time since December 4th. With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Hawks are in complete control of the relationship with a mark of 42-6 versus Drexel over the years. However, the Dragons have won two of the last three encounters, including a 72-56 decision in December of last year.

Utilizing only three players off the bench, the Hawks got the majority of their scoring from the starters, beginning with Ahmad Nivins who dropped in a team- high 20 points. Pat Calathes filled out his stat line with 14 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and three steals, although he shot just 5-of-15 from the field, while Rob Ferguson accounted for another 14 points thanks to a perfect 4-of-4 effort beyond the arc. Calathes, who is shooting better from three-point range (.411) than he is the field overall (.389) at this point in the campaign, leads the program in both scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 rpg) and is also first with 18 blocked shots. Nivins checks in with 13.8 ppg and 7.2 rpg to give the squad a powerful one-two punch in the paint, while Tasheed Carr (12.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg) directs traffic on the floor for the group with his seven assists per game, against a mere 27 turnovers through 10 starts.

The Dragons made just 9-of-27 shots from three-point range against Rider last week and Gerald Colds and Tramayne Hawthorne accounted for every one of those conversions in the victory over Rider in Philadelphia. Hawthorne, who took all 12 of his field goal attempts from out on the perimeter, knocked down five and Colds went 4-of-8 from three-point range as they scored 15 and 14 points, respectively. Scott Rodgers survived 3-of-11 from the floor to come up with 13 points, to go along with six rebounds and six assists, while Randy Oveneke contributed 10 points and Frank Elegar logged nine points and 10 boards. Elegar, who is hitting his field goals at a 58.5 percent clip and has already made twice as many free throws (50-of-71) as all but one of his teammates has even attempted, leads the group with 13.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg and 20 blocked shots. Hawthorne checks in with 11.3 ppg and is first with 46 assists, while Colds (10.3 ppg) has made himself into one of the most accurate three-point shooters (.462) in the CAA, even though he is a mere 52.2 percent at the free-throw line on a team that is 60.3 percent at the charity stripe altogether.

Not only is Calathes the best player on his team, he is also fast becoming one of the top performers in the Atlantic 10 Conference as well, which is enough of a reason to lean in favor of the Hawks in tonight's matchup.