The St. Joseph’s men’s basketball team, the preseason favorite to win the Atlantic 10, opened its season with a convincing 61-35 victory over Yale as part of the “Coaches vs. Cancer” Classic on Monday.

The Hawks were led on the offensive end by junior Langston Galloway, who scored a game-high 20 points, along with Ronald Roberts Jr. and Halil Kanacevic, who each recorded a double-double in the contest.

Roberts recorded a team-high while also contributing 10 points, while Kanacevic chipped in with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

SJU never trailed in the game, as it broke out to an early 8-0 lead and held the Bulldogs to 25 percent shooting from the field on the day.
The 35 points scored by Yale in the game was the lowest allowed by SJU since the shot-clock era began in 1985.

With the win, the Hawks advance to the “Coaches vs. Cancer” tournament and will next play Notre Dame on Friday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Butler wins first A-10 game

Butler opened its first season as a member of the A-10 conference with a 74-59 victory over Elon on Saturday.

Butler was led by senior transfer student Rotnei Clarke, who scored a game-high 21 points in his first regular season game as a member of the Bulldogs. Clarke got off to a hot start scoring the first 12 points of the game.

After a few starters got into early foul trouble, Butler turned to its reserves, which scored 29 points in the contest. Freshman Kellen Dunham led all bench scorers with 10 points.

Despite the hot start for the Bulldogs, Elon came within four points, opening the second half with a 17-4 run. But Butler overcame its foul trouble, and slowed down the charging Phoenix offense.
The Butler offense shot 50 percent from the field, while also out-rebounding Elon, 39-20, and outscoring the Phoenix in the paint, 30-16.

Dee Davis named A-10 Player of the Week

Xavier sophomore point guard Dee Davis earned the A-10’s first Player of the Week award of the 2012-2013 season.
Davis scored a career-high 22 points and had 15 assists to help lead the Musketeers to a 117-75 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday. In the victory, Davis went 8-for-11 from the field, including 5-of-7 from behind the arc.

Davis’ 15 assists was the most ever by a Xavier sophomore, and was two off from the school record of 17 in a single game.

Cody Prudhomme can be reached at [email protected].