NEW YORK -- Matt Brady can be happy that he'll be headed back to Poughkeepsie with at least one victory from this weekend.

Yes, the Red Foxes came away with 73-67 victory over Hofstra Saturday afternoon, but the Marist coach was really just happy to have his team here at Madison Square Garden for the annual Aeropostale Holiday Festival.

"Our basketball program and our kids were thrilled to be at the Garden," he said. "We were happy to come out of here with a win, especially against a New York area team like Hofstra. This is an awesome atmosphere for us to play in."

Louie McCroskey was the high-scorer for Marist with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor, but the senior guard's shooting from long range was even more impressive in hitting three of his four three-point attempts.

"I think [McCroskey] is just scratching the service of how good he can be," Brady added.

"Today we just stayed positive," McCroskey said. "We have been through this before so this is just a sign of maturity for us."

Freshman guard Charles Jenkins led the way for the Pride, pouring in a game-high 21 points on 6-of-15 shooting (3-of-9 from three) in addition to collecting five rebounds and three assists. Nathaniel Lester, meanwhile, was the other double-digit scorer for Tom Pecora's ball club, contributing 17 points and 11 rebounds despite playing with four fouls.

"I feel for them," Pecora said afterward about his young, freshmen-filled team with no timetable set for senior and leading scorer Antoine Agudio's return from injury. "We talk all the time about their legacy. I don't want their legacy to be that their freshmen year wasn't very good because they are talented enough to make it happen."

Agudio hurt his ankle in practice on Wednesday and did not play in last night's blowout loss to Virginia Tech, so it wasn't a surprise to not see him in today's loss to the Red Foxes, but with his absence quickly affecting Pecora's team, the Hofstra coach knows he needs his players to stay mentally strong.

"The thing is," he said, "you can't let losing get to you but you can't be satisfied with effort. I told the guys that if you are coaching effort, you are not going to win in this league. I want to be coaching basketball."

With any luck and some better play from his freshmen, Pecora may actually get that opportunity by the end of this season.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- With 30 seconds left, it looks like Marist will be taking this game as Hofstra still trails, 69-64.

Nathaniel Lester just missed a critical free throw and that's going to cost the Pride a chance at making a late comeback.

Final score: Marist 73, Hofstra 67.

We'll get some post-game notes and quotes once both coaches address the media following this one.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- We're under five minutes here at Madison Square Garden, and Marist leads Hofstra, 62-54, and the Pride need to make a run right now if Tom Pecora hopes to head back to Long Island with at least one win.

It's not looking that way with Louie McCroskey now pacing the Red Foxes with 18 points and seven rebounds. Jay Gavin has 12 points and four boards, while Nathaniel Lester and Charles Jenkins have both tallied 16 points for Hofstra.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- I'll tell you, after watching some of the big-time powers in the country over the first two months of the season, it's sure hard to stay engaged by two struggling offenses that Marist and Hofstra have put on the floor.

Jay Gavin thankfully just hit a three from the right corner to put Marist up, 53-48, with nine minutes remaining, and it looks like Matt Brady's team could be leaving the city with at least one win to build off.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- Louie McCroskey, gotta love that name.

The 6-foot-5 senior from the Bronx is leading all scorers with 15 points, and Nathaniel Lester has tallied 14 so far for Hofstra.

With 12 minutes left in the second half, it's a close game again, with Marist leading Hofstra by one, 47-46

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 02:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- We're at halftime here at Madison Square Garden for the first of two games for the Aeropostale Holiday Festival.

Right now Marist holds a 37-28 lead on Hofstra, and Matt Brady's team has got it done with Louie McCroskey's 12 points. Spongy Benjamin has added seven (on 3-of-4 shooting) and five rebounds for the Red Foxes.

For Hofstra, Charles Jenkins is leading the way with 10 points, and Lester Nathaniel has dropped in seven to go along with a team-high rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

I've meant to mention it earlier, but for some reason it's slipped my mind that Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe is here, though I'm not sure why. Obviously he's getting to catch up with his good 'ole NYC sportswriter buddies in Lenn Robbins of the New York Post and Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News, but I'm assuming it's to see the Giants-Patriots game later tonight as well as our second game of the day featuring ACC rep Virginia Tech and hometown favorite St. John's.

Hofstra and Marist are about to hit the floor again for the second half, so we'll lift our eyes up from the screen and take a look at the court now.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- Back to posting...up....it's 33-25 in favor of Marist with 2:33 left in the first half, and the crowd inside the Garden looks like it should be for a high school basketball game, not a Division I affair between two local teams.

But on a Saturday afternoon, I certainly wouldn't be thinking of spending my day at MSG to watch two teams that will probably both be missing the postseason this year.

That's not to say they haven't been good in the past. Marist, in fact, had quite a team last season with Jared Jordan, and Hofstra has had its years, particularly with former coach Jay Wright (now at Villanova). But neither of these teams have shown me anything to believe that they can beat the best in their respective conferences.

For Marist, it's Siena and Rider in the MAAC. For Hofstra, it's George Mason and VCU in the CAA. So my apologies Marist and Hofstra fans, but those teams are just a tad bit more experience and talented than the teams facing one another right now on the floor.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- Here's a little update five minutes into this one: Marist 5, Hofstra 2.

The Red Foxes don't have a lot of size, something that St. John's was able to expose last night, but it doesn't matter because Hofstra has little size itself. I haven't happened to see 6-foot-10 freshman Greg Washington on the floor, and it's unsure if he'll see any time today.

Ryan Schneider just hit a three-pointer for Marist, but Hofstra is hanging tough right now even without leading scorer Antoine Agudio, who is out with that ankle injury (suffered this week) for the second game straight.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- Welcome back to the The World's Most Famous Arena after last night's action between Virginia Tech, Hostra, Marist and St. John's.

Our first game today features the consolation game between Marist and Hofstra, both losers last night, albeit in very different ways.

The Pride never really gave Virginia Tech a game, struggling without senior standout Antoine Agudio (ankle) -- who currently ranks second in the country in scoring with 26.8 points per game -- and getting blown out by a 84-59 margin.

Meanwhile for the Red Foxes, Matt Brady's team really hung tough in last night's 62-59 defeat to St. John's. Marist, in fact, had won seven of their last eight games decided by four points or less until last night. Jay Gavin seemed to be the guy for Marist last night, along with senior guard Louie McCroskey, so we'll keep an eye on those two as they play their second game under these bright Big Apple lights, something that these guys don't get to do on an every week basis.

But with both of these mid-major teams being from outside the city here, it looks like we'll have some good 'ole New York state bragging rights on the line.

Prediction, you ask? Well, if Tom Pecora was actually going to play Agudio, I'd have my money on the Pride, but with Agudio not on the floor, I like Brady's Red Foxes after the way they battled all the way to the end with the Johnnies.

History doesn't, as Marist lost its last meeting with Hostra back on Nov. 18, 2003 in Poughkeepsie for the first round of the Preseason NIT.

We'll see if the result is different today. Here's the tip...

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- It wasn't pretty, but Norm Roberts will take it.

Especially in this dismal time for New York basketball -- on the college and professional level -- where the once mighty St. John's and now laughable Knicks are not anything close to what they once were 20 or so years ago, yet they happen to play in the same building.

Coincidence? I think not.

So even in a 62-59 victory over Marist Friday night in the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, the Johnnies survived by the skin of their nose, as a last-second attempt by Marist clanked off the rim and ultimately gave St. John's a pass to Saturday evening's championship game against Virginia Tech, who dominated Hofstra, 84-59, in the first dip of the doubleheader.

Afterward, Roberts was all smiles, but you could almost feel the sense of relief that was hanging over the Red Storm coach's head while he took questions from primarily New York media (because what other national columnist would be crazy enough to spend a night watching Virginia Tech-Hofstra and St. John's-Marist? Um, me...).

Continue reading "It's Not Pretty But Johnnies Hang On, 62-59" »

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- St. John's looks like it will be escaping Madison Square Garden with a nail biting win over in-state rival Marist. With the Red Storm up by two with 30 seconds left, Eugene Lawrence missed the second of two free throws, but St. John's was able to grab the rebound. Lawrence once again hit one of two to put the Johnnies up by four, 61-57, with time running out for the Red Foxes.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- It's a five-point game now with less than three minutes to play, and even if St. John's manages to win this game, there will still be plenty of reasons to knock the Johnnies with a performance like they've had tonight.

The Red Storm, after all, are letting Marist slowly but surely creep back into the game, and it would only be fair to see the Johnnies lose this one after showing little intensity or tenacity to go for the kill when they had it back at the beginning of the second half.

Speaking of which, Marist has just tied the game at 57-57 with 2:08 to play.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- We're winding down here at The World's Most Famous Arena, and it's St. John's whose still in control of this semifinal matchup against Marist.

The Red Foxes were able to tie the score coming out of halftime, but Matt Brady's team hasn't played the kind of defense to keep the Johnnies close in the second half.

Speaking of defense, Marist just showed exactly what I've been saying, letting Anthony Mason, Jr. get all the way down the floor unguarded for an easy slam that got the minimal crowd on hand ooing and awing just a little.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- With under 10 minutes left in our second game, it's St. John's leading Marist, 49-42, as every second becomes more and more precious for Matt Brady's Red Foxes.

As far as crowd turnout, it's been about the usual for the Garden these days, with the Isiah Thomas-Anucha Browne Sanders scandal hovering over a building that has created so many memories over the last 60 years.

One of those memories will certainly not be from tonight, as St. John's has increased its lead to eight with more than seven minutes to play.

Marist, meanwhile, is in search of a basket but doesn't have that go-to guy right now that it had in Jared Jordan last year.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- While Hofstra didn't put up much of a fight against Virginia Tech in our first game of the night, Marist has decided to make things interesting in battle back and forth with St. John's.

The Johnnies are holding a 41-39 lead at the 12:30-mark, and Norm Roberts' team isn't exactly dominating a team that it should be.

After all, no Big East team should be struggling to get by a mighty (hyperbole?) MAAC foe like Marist. Yes, Jared Jordan put the Red Foxes on the map in 2006-07, but that was last year, and Matt Brady's team isn't even expected to win its conference with Siena as the favorite and Rider a potential contender.

Maybe it's the curse of James Dolan and the Knicks that is getting to St. John's. After all, the Johnnies do play nearly half of their Big East games in this building.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- St. John's hasn't exactly played flawless basketball in tonight's second semifinal matchup against Marist, but the Red Storm does hold a 31-24 halftime lead.

The Red Foxes didn't shoot the ball particularly well in the first half with a 36-percent clip from the field, including just one of eight makes from three-point range. But St. John's wasn't that much better, finishing the half at 41.7 percent from the floor and no attempts from downtown.

In the scoring column, Anthony Mason, Jr. leads all scorers with eight points, but Marist's Spongy Benjamin started to find his groove in the first half with seven.

Both teams were sloppy in the first 20 minutes of play. Marist committed 12 turnovers while St. John's had 11. The rebounding edge, meanwhile, was negligible with both teams posting 16 boards.

Other than that, not much else sticks out from eying the first-half statistics, so we'll get ready for the second half of action in a few more minutes.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- With about two minutes to go before halftime, St. John's is clinging to a five-point lead on in-state rival Marist.

Both teams are forcing each other to make some ill-advised passes, resulting in several turnovers for both the Red Storm and the Red Foxes. St. John's looks like it will be leading going to halftime in any case.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- St. John's has jumped out to a 25-15 lead with a little more than five minutes left before halftime in our second game of the Holiday Festival semifinals.

The Johnnies are getting some more momentum behind them with the crowd getting involved, but it's still early, and if Marist can get a few field goals to go down, the Red Foxes will be right back in the game.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- With less than 10 minutes remaining before halftime, St. John's and Marist area deadlocked at 15-15 in what's been somewhat of a sloppy game.

Anthony Mason, Jr. has been the main sparkplug for Norm Roberts and company, and we'll see if the Johnnies can please the hometown crowd with a tonight over the Red Foxes that would propel them into tomorrow night's championship game against ACC foe Virginia Tech.

And after the way the Hokies dominated Hofstra on the interior, the Johnnies will certainly need to get some production from its frontcourt if it hopes to head back to Queens tomorrow with a Holiday Festival title in its back pocket.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NEW YORK -- Due to some lengthy press conferences following Virginia Tech's win over Hofstra, we're a little late getting back to our seat for the second game of our doubleheader featuring Marist and St. John's.

Marist currently holds a 11-6 lead with less than 14 minutes remaining in the first half, and the Johnnies really need to win this game after returning from their trip to Honolulu last week for the Rainbow Classic. It was a bittersweet trip in the end for Norm Robert's team, which lost its first game to Ohio on a buzzer-beating layup before downing host Hawai'i and losing in the consolation bracket championship game. St. John's, however, is 3-1 all-time against Marist and has plans to avenge a 56-53 loss from Dec. 17, 2005.

The Red Foxes, meanwhile, are making their second appearance in the annual Holiday Festival, with the last time coming during the 1988-89 season. That year, Marist lost both of its games to St. John's and Memphis. The win over the Johnnies just over two years ago, though, marks the only victory that the Red Foxes have scored over a Big East team ever. And certainly Coach Matt Brady would like to come up with win #2 tonight.

Posted by Josh Herwitt at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)