The closeness of the game was made apparent immediately. Mini-spurts by each team earned the largest advantage each achieved in the first half. Five unanswered points by the Rams gave Fordham a 16-11 lead at 13:25 of the first half. Late in the half, six straight points by the visitors earned Charlotte a 28-24 advantage with 3:02 left in the half. To the joy of the hopeful fans in the gym, Fordham led 30-29 at the half.

Charlotte began the second half with three straight baskets to move ahead by a score of 35-30. Chris Gaston then put on a one-man show. The Fordham frosh scored the next 12 points to give the Rams a 42-35 lead with 14:58 remaining in the game. Fordham coach Jared Grasso said of the young man’s effort, “He’s the best freshman in the league. Today, he was the best player in the league.  He put the team on his back.” Two layups by Fordham’s Jacob Green gave Fordham its game high lead of 10 points, 59-49, with 6:59 left. The lead was reversed with an 18 point contribution by Derrio Green of Charlotte during the final five minutes. Green scored 22 of his team high of 24 in the second half. Grasso praised the achievement,

“Derrio Green was fantastic. Hats off to him! He made some great shots. That’s what great players do.” Fordham’s Chris Gaston accomplished his 13^th double-double of the season. He scored 32 points and grabbed 12 boards. He also led the Rams with six assists. He is the favorite to earn the A-10 Rookie of the Year award at the conclusion of the season.

Grasso, youngest head coach in NCAA Division I, was pleased by the progress of his freshman dominated squad, “It was one of those games where we had them on the ropes. This team grew up today. This team, when we add some pieces, will be very good. I’m happy with where we are. We’re moving in the right direction.” The Rams return home on Saturday, February 13^th for a 1 PM matinee with George Washington.

New York (0-3) rallied from a 23-point early second-half deficit to take a three-point lead in overtime, only to see Philadelphia (2-1) close on a 17-0 run and beat the Knicks 141-127, before a raucous sellout crowd of 19,763 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

For the second time in as many nights, the Knicks dug a huge first quarter hole due to a lack of defensive intensity, stormed back with a big fourth quarter, and eventually lost a heartbreaker after grabbing a lead in an extra session. On Friday night, the Knicks trailed 32-13 after the first quarter in Charlotte, before rallying to lead briefly in overtime, only to lose 102-100.

One night later, New York again allowed an opponent to light up the scoreboard early and often. Philadelphia shot 72.7 percent (16 of 22) from the field, led by four field goals apiece from guard Louis Williams, forward Andre Igoudala, and center Elton Brand, as the 76ers, without attempting a three-point shot, torched the Knicks’ for a 40-25 lead after one quarter. During the period, Philadelphia made all eight of its free throw attempts (five by forward Thaddeus Young) and broke open a 10-10 tie, scoring 12 straight points en route to a larger 22-6 run, to take its biggest lead of the quarter, 32-16, on an Igoudala left wing jumper with 3:20 remaining. The 76ers would match that margin twice more before the first quarter ended.

New York cut Philadelphia’s lead to nine points on three different occasions in the second quarter, the last of which brought the Knicks to within 48-39, with 7:00 left in the half, on a jumper by former 1998 76er first-round pick, forward Larry Hughes (18 points, 7-11 fg, 5 rebounds, 6 assists in 39 minutes off the bench).

The 76ers though, pulled away again, outscoring the Knicks 22-12 over the final seven minutes of the first half, to lead 70-51 at halftime.

At that point, the Knicks were lucky that the hometown fans didn’t egg or toilet paper the court. They headed for the locker room under a chorus boos that weren’t exactly of the variety of Knick fans imitating Halloween ghosts.

Jeers turned to cheers in the second half when the Knicks stormed back and nearly turned the night into a happy “Harroween” or “Galloween” for the Garden faithful, as in Knick forwards Al Harrington and Danilo Gallinari, who each scored career highs to lead New York back. However, that only served to little more than cancel out what the 76ers’ scored in first half.

Harrington finished with a game-high 42 points (30 after halftime) in 36:28 off the bench, making 16 of 23 shots from the floor and 9 of 11 free throws. Replacing Harrington in the opening lineup, Gallinari made his first NBA start with an impressive display from beyond the arc. The second-year, 21-year-old Italian import delighted the crowd, scoring 21 of his 30 points in the second half, finishing 9 of 22 from the field, including 8 of 16 from three-point range, falling just one three-pointer short of the Knicks’ all-time single-game record.

Behind their two leading scorers, the Knicks reversed everything in the second half. They outscored the 76ers by the same 30-26 margin in the third quarter that Philadelphia won the second quarter by, and the Knicks forced the overtime by winning the fourth period, 41-26. Still, just as in Charlotte the night before, they had a big hill to climb, trailing 96-81, entering the fourth quarter.

It seemed as if the game was out of reach when the lead swelled back to 105-87 with 8:59 left in the fourth quarter, and the 76ers still led 110-93 on a pair of free throws by guard Andre Igoudala (team-high 32 pts, 12-21 fg, 11 reb, 8 ast) with 6:52 left in the period.

However, the Knicks, also like the night before, charged back late, as they finally started clamping down defensively and made some stops, while at the other end, Harrington and point guard Chris Duhon (7 pts, 6 ast), who was publicly outspoken about the Knicks not going into Charlotte seriously, both started driving aggressively to the basket.

Harrington scored seven points to during a 15-3 surge which brought New York to within 113-108 with 2:12 left. The last two point of the run came on a pair of Harrington free throws. In between making each one, the draftee out of St. Patrick’s high school in nearby Elizabeth, New Jersey, who always wanted to be a Knick while playing for three other teams over twelve years before arriving in New York last year, stood at the foul line, waving his arms and pulling out the “NEW YORK” on the front of his jersey, exhorting the Garden crowd to roar louder than it already was.

“I was just wanna get ‘em involved,” Harrington said afterwards. “These people pay top dollar to come watch us play. For us to be down 20 and get back in the game, the reason we did that is… we fed off their energy.”

That of course, doesn’t explain the “Defense!” chants from the opening tip during the first quarter, leading to the 76ers’ offensive explosion in that period.

A couple of free throws by forward Thaddeus Young (25 pts, 9-14 fg, 7-8 ft) pushed the 76ers’ lead to 119-112 with just 1:12 left in regulation.

But again, Gallinari and Harrington wouldn’t let the Knicks go quietly.

Two Gallinari free throws made it 119-114, before a jumper by Brand (16 pts, 7-13 fg) increased the lead to 121-114.

Harrington then scored off glass while being bumped in the lane. He made another free throw to complete a three-point play, cutting Philadelphia’s lead to 121-117 with 47.9 seconds left in the quarter. He then rebounded a missed shot by Igoudala which resulted in a Gallinari three-pointer, which sent the crowd into a frenzy and cut the 76ers’ lead to 121-120 with 11.4 seconds left in the period.

A free throw by 76ers’ forward Jason Kapono (6 pts) made it 122-120 with 10.7 seconds to go, before Duhon tied the score, 122-122, on a running, contested layup off glass with 5.9 seconds remaining.

Igoudala raced down the left side, but missed a jumper as time expired in the fourth quarter.

In overtime, Harrington starting the scoring with a three-point play, again taking the ball strong to the hoop, scoring, and making a free throw.

Williams (27 pts, 10-12 fg, 7-8 ft, 10 reb, 7 ast), who played an outstanding game for the 76ers,  answered with a jumper before Harrington made another driving layup to put the Knicks ahead 127-124 with 3:41 left in the game.

But, Harrington fouled forward Marreese Speights (20 pts, 7-10 fg, 6-7 ft, 10 reb), who made two free throws to cut the Knicks’ lead to 127-126, with 3:30 remaining.

More importantly, the Knicks best offensive option of the night fouled out on the play, and Philadelphia completely took over after that. New York wouldn’t score again while Igoudala, Williams, Young, and Speights all scored, usually off of fast breaks, to seal the win over the final three minutes for the 76ers.

“Tough, very tough,” Harrington said on watching from the bench the rest of the way.

On Halloween night, coming back to win from such a big deficit would have been great trick by the Knicks and a real treat for the Garden fans, but without Harrington in overtime, New York simply ran out of gas after a valiant effort.

Although Knicks’ head coach Mike D’Antoni was again displeased with his team’s intensity to start the game, he noted the scrappiness of his tired squad which played three overtimes in two nights. “They could have quit, but they didn’t,” he said. “I just thought in the overtime, we had a complete physical breakdown.”

“We have to find a way to play with a sense of urgency,” Harrington said. “We can’t keep giving teams 20-point leads and then fighting back and then coming in here and feeling good about ourselves… Last year we struggled with our third quarter, this year we struggle with our first quarter. We just gotta find a way to fight through this. There’s no moral victories around here… we’ve got goals we’re trying to accomplish.”

When discussing the slow starts defensively, Gallinari pointed to the need to maintain a consistent effort throughout the entire game. “We have to play our best defense for 48 minutes,” he said. “We cannot allow ourselves to have ups and downs [with that] during the game. Once we keep our energy up, everything goes fine, so we just have to keep our energy at the highest level.”

On the plus side, Gallinari feels no ill effects of the back surgery which kept him from missing most of his rookie season last year. “I feel good, my back is fine,” he said. And, he’s adjusting well to playing in New York. The only time he smiled after the game it seemed, was giving a simple answer on his new home. “Nice city,” he said.

But, Gallinari didn’t feel good about losing. Shrugging aside his own big scoring night, the disappointed and humble forward said, “I don’t feel good. We lost and that’s what matters.”

Two key areas in which the 76ers, who won their second straight, held big advantages were at the free throw line, where they shot 36 of 42 (85.7 percent) compared to the Knicks’ 19 of 24 (79.2 percent), and on the boards where Philadelphia limited New York’s second-chance attempts by outrebounding the Knicks 49-31. Three 76ers were in double figures in rebounds while Harrington and guard Wilson Chandler tied for the Knicks’ lead with just 6 rebounds apiece.

After the game, Knicks’ guard Nate Robinson (8 pts), who sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter, told Harrington, “We should be 2-1, Bro.”

Harrington nodded in agreement.

Yet instead, the Knicks open a season with three straight losses for the first time since an 0-5 start four years ago, in 2005.

The game kicked off the start of a four-game home stand which will continue with Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night and culminate with MSG likely buzzing when next year’s free agent Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers visit on Friday night.

With the win, the Pride improves to 15-9 overall and 7-6 in the CAA, while also improving to 10-2 this season in games decided by five points or less. Towson slips to 8-17 overall and 3-10 in league play.

Washington capped a flurry under the basket that featured two Pride offensive rebounds before he made a high-arching jumper from the left wing to hand Hofstra a 70-68 lead. Junior guard Josh Thornton hit four three-pointers for Towson and was 4-9 from the field, but his potential game-tying 20-foot shot near the arc fell short of the rim and went out-of-bounds with an even two seconds left on the clock, preserving the Hofstra victory.

Sophomore guard Nathaniel Lester (Brooklyn, NY) scored five straight points to break a tie late in the second half and put Hofstra ahead 66-61. Lester had all but two of his career-high 21 points in the second half. Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) added a game-high 24 points in just

27 minutes after picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, and Arminas Urbutis (Kaunas, Lithuania) scored a career-high 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his first double-double.

Junior Hairston scored a team-high 23 points for Towson, including a three-pointer that tied it at 68 with 1:11 left before Washington’s go-ahead basket. The Pride, which trailed by as much as 12 points in the contest, opened up a late lead when Lester scored five straight points to break a 61-all tie with 3:15 remaining. Lester earned a lay-up coming out of a time-out, Urbutis grabbed a key defensive rebound on Towson’s next possession to lock up his double-double. Senior guard Zygis Sestokas (Vilnius, Lithuania) then hit Lester with a crisp pass and Lester drew a foul on David Brewster while hitting the shot in the paint. Lester completed the three-point play with a free throw, building a 66-61 lead with 2:26 left.

Sestokas earlier hit a three-pointer, the 98th in his career, for a

60-57 Hofstra lead and provided tight defense on Thornton’s tying shot with two seconds left. With Jenkins on the bench after picking up his fourth foul nearly four minutes into the second half, the Pride surged in front when Lester hit a three-pointer in front of Hofstra’s bench for a 50-49 lead with 10:41 left, the Pride’s first lead since 2-0.

Lester then forced a Towson timeout after hitting another three from the opposite wing just 2:03 later to put the Pride up 53-51 after Troy Franklin put the Tigers back ahead. Lester added another jumper and a lay-in off a drive, giving him eight points in less than three minutes.

Hofstra fell behind as much as 12 points in the first half before Jenkins initiated the comeback. Jenkins produced nearly half of the Pride’s offense, scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting to cut Towson’s lead to 35-31 at the break. Urbutis also reached his career high of 10 points in the first half alone, eclipsing his previous best of nine points, which he had accomplished six times.

Towson forged a 10-1 run midway through to build an 18-7 lead with

10:35 remaining. Rocky Coleman hit a three-pointer with a defender in his face and Robert Nwankwo followed a Tigers defensive stop with a two-handed put-back dunk for the 11-point edge.

Hofstra cut the deficit to four following Jenkins’ running jumper through the paint. Josh Thornton re-established a double-digit lead for the visitors minutes later, finishing a catch-and-shoot three-pointer off Brian Morris’s quick pass to cap an 8-0 run, building a 28-16 lead.

Jenkins scored Hofstra’s next seven points, including a lay-in off a loose ball in the paint while Urbutis chipped in six of his 10 points in the  final five minutes. The duo accounted for all but five of the Pride’s points before halftime.

Hofstra shot 53.8 percent in the second half (14-26) after shooting only 29.6 percent in the opening stanza (8-27). The Pride also outrebounded the Tigers 31-27 on the afternoon.

The Pride will be back in action Tuesday when it hosts CAA-rival Old Dominion in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) scored a team-high 22 points for the Pride and sophomore guard Nathanial Lester (Brooklyn, NY) finished in double-figures for the third straight game, chipping in 12 points. But it wasn’t enough to extend the Pride’s winning streak to five, as Hofstra fell to 14-8 and 6-5 in the CAA with the defeat.

Hofstra also lost for just the second time this season in games decided by five points or less, dropping to 9-2.

Maynor was the difference-maker, erasing a 58-all tie by scoring six straight points down the stretch to help the Rams improve to 16-6 and 9-2 in the conference. VCU entered the matinee just a game behind Northeastern for first place in the CAA.

Hofstra led by as many as 12 points before freshman guard Bradford Burgess (11 points) and Maynor, the reigning CAA Player of the Year, mounted the comeback. Burgess hit a three-pointer near the top of the key to tie it at 58 with 4:16 left.

VCU rode Maynor to a six-point lead after he hit a free throw, buried a three-pointer and added a jumper on the Rams subsequent trio of possessions, moving the Rams ahead 64-58 with 1:42 left. After making a free-throw, Maynor stole a pass-at midcourt and raced in for an uncontested lay-up to build the lead to three. On the other end of the floor, Maynor blocked Jenkins’s driving attempt and secured the win by hitting a deep three-pointer from the left wing make it 64-58.Jenkins added four free throws afterwards, but the Pride never got closer than 66-62 with a half-minute showing on the clock as it missed three shots in the final 20 seconds, including two three-pointers to try to cut the lead to one.

Maynor and Jenkins entered the contest as the conference’s top two scorers and served as their offense’s focal points. Fresh off a career-high 33 point-effort in a last-second win over UNC Wilmington, Jenkins notched his 10th 20-point game of the season, adding six rebounds and three assists.

VCU came out strong in the second half after the Pride led 36-29 at the break. Sophomore forward Larry Sanders scored back-to-back baskets in the paint, pulling the Rams to within 42-39 with 13:13 left. Jenkins responded with a three-pointer right in front of the Pride bench and Tony Dennison added a driving reverse lay-in on the next possession to build up the lead.

Maynor scored the game’s next seven points, hitting a top-of-the-key three-point near NBA range to tie it and followed a Pride turnover by drilling a jump shot to give VCU a 48-46 lead with 10:54 remaining, marking the first time the Rams led since the second minute of the contest.

Playing man defense, Jenkins held Maynor scoreless through the first 10 minutes before the country’s 11th-leading scorer heated up. Maynor was off from the floor in the first half (2-8) yet converted all seven of his free throws to tally 12 points at the break.

Jenkins’ jumper built a 28-16 lead with 5:20 left in the first half, Hofstra’s largest of the game. VCU posted a modest 5-0 run to close the gap before Hofstra started driving to the lane, converting on its last five foul shots. Maynor cut into the deficit before the buzzer, drawing a foul on junior guard Cornelius Vines (Syracuse, NY) from beyond the three-point arc. Maynor hit all three of his free throws with 2.2 seconds left, though the Pride still entered the break with a 36-29 edge.

Maynor has a chance to be selected in this year’s NBA draft. That would follow in the career path of former Pride great Craig “Speedy” Claxton, who had his No. 10 retired in a pregame ceremony. Claxton, currently with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, was drafted by Philadelphia in the first round of the 2000 draft after a stellar career for Hofstra.

Now 30 years old, the Hempstead native led his hometown school to the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and still holds the team record for career assists (660), steals (288) and ranks sixth all-time in points (2,015).

Claxton, who won a championship ring with the Spurs in 2002-03, is the third Hofstra player to have his jersey retired this season. Claxton (1996-2000) joined Bill Thieben (1953-56) and Steve Nisenson (1962-65) in being honored with a banner hanging from the Mack Sports Complex’s rafters. Rich Laurel (1973-77) will join the list later this year.

Hofstra will be off the next two days before traveling to Virginia to take on another challenging conference opponent in George Mason Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

With the win, the Pride improves to 12-7 overall and levels its Colonial Athletic Association record at 4-4. William & Mary falls to

6-12 overall and 1-7 in league play with the loss.

Junior guard Tony Dennison (Long Island City, NY) scored eight straight points in the second half, and junior guard Cornelius Vines (Syracuse,

NY) scored all of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the Pride. Vines hit four three-pointers in the second half and Dennison scored all but one of his 10 points in the period. Sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) was the third Pride player to score in double figures, adding 11 points and five assists. Junior guard David Schneider led William and Mary with 18 points.

Vines’ three-pointer with 10:40 left ignited a 13-0 run and erased William and Mary’s final lead 7:33 into the last half. Moments later, Dennison capitalized on the Pride’s offensive rebounding prowess, hitting a key shot from beyond the arc after three Hofstra offensive rebounds to make it 34-29 at the 9:01 mark.

Dennison then continued his run of eight straight points. After hitting back-to-back threes, Dennison added a jumper and then picked up an assist on a fast break following a defensive stop. Dennison stole the ball at one end, dribbled to the right side of the paint and fired a centering pass to a streaking Greg Washington (Centereach, NY), who punctuated the drive with a two-handed dunk that made it 41-29.

William and Mary cut that lead to four points at 41-37 with 5:35 left behind two three-pointers from Schneider, before Vines provided key insurance points. Vines stole a Steven Hess pass attempt near midcourt and converted the fast break while drawing the foul on Schneider. Vines added his third trey of the evening on the next possession, putting the Pride up 11 points with 3:39 left to secure the win.

Washington, a sophomore forward, energized the crowd almost seven minutes into the second half, racing down-court and leaping at the last second to swat away Schneider’s lay-in attempt from behind. Washington stole a pass shortly after the Tribe in-bounded, setting up Jenkins’

jumper and a 28-27 Pride lead. Jenkins took a hard fall with 9:30 left, needing help to walk off the court. He returned four minutes later, finishing 4-11 from the floor in 36 minutes.

Both schools failed to develop an offensive rhythm early, failing to crack the 30 percent mark from the field in a low-scoring first-half that saw the Tribe take a 17-15 lead into the break. Senior forward Darren Townes (New York, NY) gave the Pride a presence in the low post early, grabbing five offensive rebounds and two on the defensive glass through the first 20 minutes.

Hofstra’s defense held the Tribe to 2-14 shooting at the outset before an 8-0 run, put William and Mary up, 14-8, with 4:37 left. Alex Smith and Schneider hit the Tribe’s first three-pointers of the half during the run, as the Tribe held Hofstra scoreless for a span of 9:01.

Jenkins scored the next five points, capped by his running floater through the paint, and Washington’s drive to the basket resulted in an easy lay-in as the Pride responded with a 7-0 run. Quinn McDowell gave the Tribe some momentum heading into the break, taking Sean McCurdy’s swing pass and burying a three-pointer from the top key just before the buzzer to hand William and Mary a 17-15 halftime lead.

Schneider was the only William & Mary player in double figures.

Washington finished with seven blocked shots off the bench for Hofstra, setting a new career high. Hofstra held a 42-26 advantage on the boards, led by eight from Townes.

The Pride will next be in action when it travels to James Madison on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest.