Feb 18, 2008

Weekly Ram Report

In an era when coaching changes seem to take place more often than postage-rate increases, Philadelphia University men's basketball Head Coach Herb Magee' 63 and women's basketball Head Coach/Director of Athletics Tom Shirley continue to buck the trends. In their combined 60th year of head coaching service at the University, Magee and Shirley have combined for 1,401 all-time wins in their remarkable careers at the collegiate level. Milestone victory number 1,400 for the Rams' dynamic duo took place at home inside The Gallagher Athletic, Recreation and Convocation Center on Saturday, February 16, 2008 as Shirley's women downed Felician College by a final score of 85-53. Magee's men then closed out the doubleheader with the Golden Falcons, defeating the visitors 88-76.

Between games, Philadelphia University President Stephen Spinelli, Jr., Ph.D. joined the Cheerleading squad (shown above) in congratulating the two head coaches, who are currently the third-winningest active men's/women's coaching tandem in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Together, their 1,401 wins place them behind only Northern State's Don Meyer and Curt Frederickson and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma.

Shirley is fifth in career victories among active NCAA Division II women's basketball head coaches and he ranks seventh on the all-time list. Magee is the most decorated NCAA Division II men's coach in history; and regardless of division, he's fifth all-time, trailing only Bob Knight, Meyer, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp.

All 849 of Magee's triumphs have come in his 41 seasons here at Philadelphia University. Shirley has amassed 403 victories in his 19 years at the helm of the Lady Rams' program to go along with the 149 he accrued in eight seasons guiding his alma mater, DeSales University-then known as Allentown College-from 1981-'89.

This season, the men's team is currently tops in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) with an unblemished 13-0 league record. At 16-11 overall, the Rams were ranked sixth in the NCAA Division II Northeast Region in the most recent poll of February 13, 2008. Magee's club has won 10 of their last 11 games. The women's squad sits in fourth place in the CACC's competitive South Division, 8-6 in conference action with an overall mark of 15-8. Shirley's team is ranked fourth in the nation in free-throw percentage, connecting at a rate of 78% (409-523).

As both the men's and women's teams went 2-0 this past week, and given the historic coaching milestone that was reached, we'll now take a brief look at last week's men's and women's basketball games in sequence:

Sophomore center Jessica Romano (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) registered her lucky 13th double-double of the year, pouring in a team-high 20 points and pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds to lead Philadelphia University to an 80-56 victory at nearby Chestnut Hill College in CACC women's basketball action on Wed., Feb. 13, 2008. It was the second win on the season for Head Coach Tom Shirley's Lady Rams over the Griffins, newcomers to the CACC this year.

Romano led a quintet of Philadelphia University players into double-digit scoring, as freshman point guard Stephanie Agger (North Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) contributed 12 points off the bench in her return to action after missing the past two contests while recovering from an injury sustained at Wilmington on Feb. 2. Junior guard Amanda Brennan (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) recorded 10 points off the bench, matching her sister, sophomore forward Kate Brennan (Stratford, N.J./Sterling), as well as senior forward Ashley Webster (Philadelphia, Pa./Cheltenham) who lit up the rest of the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocked shots.

Other notables for the Lady Rams in the game at Chestnut Hill included sophomore guard Taylor Magnus (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) who earned her first career starting assignment, scoring five points and dealing three assists. Also, sophomore point guard Nina Brascetta (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) made her third straight start, responding with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.

In men's action last Wed. at Chestnut Hill, senior forward Jason Hickenbottom (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) notched 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals in a solid all-around performance, guiding Philadelphia University to a 64-51 win, the Rams' third victory over the Griffins this season.

The win clinched the CACC South Division regular-season title for the Rams. In addition, Philadelphia University guaranteed themselves home-court advantage for at least the first round of the conference tournament, with postseason play beginning on Saturday, March 1.

Sophomore forward Malcolm Ingram (Philadelphia, Pa./Solebury Prep) also shined in the victory, scoring a team-high 19 points in addition to nine rebounds and two steals. Sophomore center Mike Yocum (Dresher, Pa./Episcopal Academy) also netted double-figure scoring, equaling his season high of 15 points, while also accounting for eight rebounds and three blocked shots in the contest. Sophomore point guard Russell Frederick (Joppa, Md./Calvert Hall) dished a game-high seven assists while scoring five points and securing five boards.

Over the weekend at The Gallagher Center, senior forward Ashley Webster scored a game-high 18 points, impelling Philadelphia University to an 85-53 win over visiting Felician College. All 11 Lady Rams who were available played in Saturday's game and all 11 scored. The victory improved Philadelphia to 15-8 overall and 8-6 in the CACC.

Webster, who now has 1,122 career points, moved past former Lady Rams' standout Valerie Ridge '89 into 20th place, and needs just eight points to take possession of 18th place. The lone senior also notched two steals in the game, vaulting ahead of former star Darlene Hildebrand '95 into fifth place on Philadelphia University's all-time list for takeaways.

In addition to Webster, sophomore center Jessica Romano and freshman forward Kate Brennan also found double-figures in scoring for Head Coach Tom Shirley, finishing with 16 points and 15 points, respectively.

Also last Saturday at home, sophomore forward Malcolm Ingram poured in a game-high 29 points and collected 12 rebounds, guiding the Philadelphia University men's basketball team to an 88-76 win over Felician College on Saturday afternoon at the Gallagher Center. With the victory, Head Coach Herb Magee's team has won ten of its past 11 and improves to 16-11 overall and 13-0 in the CACC.

Senior forward Jason Hickenbottom added 19 points for the Rams while junior guard Mike Dunn (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin; pictured below) finished with 16 points, including the 1000th point of his career. In doing so, Dunn became the 46th men's player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone, impressive in just his third season.

In the upcoming week, the women play three key CACC games, at University of the Sciences on Tue., Feb. 19 at 6:00 p.m., at home vs. Georgian Court on Thurs., Feb. 21 at 7:00 p.m. and again at The Gallagher Center on Sat., Feb. 23 at 2:00 p.m. vs. Caldwell.

The men's team will be in action twice, closing out doubleheaders at USP on Tue. at 8:00 p.m. and at home against Caldwell on Sat. at 4:00 p.m.

If you can't make it to the arena on campus for home games here in the all-important stretch drive of the regular season, you now have three digital methods to follow the Rams and Lady Rams on the Division II hardwood:

Log onto the new live stats service
Listen to live audio play-by-play on Teamline
Watch pay-per-view video via Penn Atlantic at CACC.tv. **also available for most away games**


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Milestone victory number 1,400 for the Rams' dynamic duo took place at home inside The Gallagher Athletic, Recreation and Convocation Center on Saturday, February 16, 2008 as Shirley's women downed Felician College by a final score of 85-53. Magee's men then closed out the doubleheader with the Golden Falcons, defeating the visitors 88-76. Between games, Philadelphia University President Stephen Spinelli, Jr., Ph.D. joined the Cheerleading squad (shown above) in congratulating the two head coaches, who are currently the third-winningest active men's/women's coaching tandem in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Together, their 1,401 wins place them behind only Northern State's Don Meyer and Curt Frederickson and Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma. Shirley is fifth in career victories among active NCAA Division II women's basketball head coaches and he ranks seventh on the all-time list. Magee is the most decorated NCAA Division II men's coach in history; and regardless of division, he's fifth all-time, trailing only Bob Knight, Meyer, Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp. All 849 of Magee's triumphs have come in his 41 seasons here at Philadelphia University. Shirley has amassed 403 victories in his 19 years at the helm of the Lady Rams' program to go along with the 149 he accrued in eight seasons guiding his alma mater, DeSales University-then known as Allentown College-from 1981-'89. This season, the men's team is currently tops in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) with an unblemished 13-0 league record. At 16-11 overall, the Rams were ranked sixth in the NCAA Division II Northeast Region in the most recent poll of February 13, 2008. Magee's club has won 10 of their last 11 games. The women's squad sits in fourth place in the CACC's competitive South Division, 8-6 in conference action with an overall mark of 15-8. Shirley's team is ranked fourth in the nation in free-throw percentage, connecting at a rate of 78% (409-523). As both the men's and women's teams went 2-0 this past week, and given the historic coaching milestone that was reached, we'll now take a brief look at last week's men's and women's basketball games in sequence: Sophomore center Jessica Romano (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) registered her lucky 13th double-double of the year, pouring in a team-high 20 points and pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds to lead Philadelphia University to an 80-56 victory at nearby Chestnut Hill College in CACC women's basketball action on Wed., Feb. 13, 2008. It was the second win on the season for Head Coach Tom Shirley's Lady Rams over the Griffins, newcomers to the CACC this year. Romano led a quintet of Philadelphia University players into double-digit scoring, as freshman point guard Stephanie Agger (North Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) contributed 12 points off the bench in her return to action after missing the past two contests while recovering from an injury sustained at Wilmington on Feb. 2. Junior guard Amanda Brennan (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) recorded 10 points off the bench, matching her sister, sophomore forward Kate Brennan (Stratford, N.J./Sterling), as well as senior forward Ashley Webster (Philadelphia, Pa./Cheltenham) who lit up the rest of the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocked shots. Other notables for the Lady Rams in the game at Chestnut Hill included sophomore guard Taylor Magnus (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth-Whitemarsh) who earned her first career starting assignment, scoring five points and dealing three assists. Also, sophomore point guard Nina Brascetta (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) made her third straight start, responding with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists. In men's action last Wed. at Chestnut Hill, senior forward Jason Hickenbottom (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) notched 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals in a solid all-around performance, guiding Philadelphia University to a 64-51 win, the Rams' third victory over the Griffins this season. The win clinched the CACC South Division regular-season title for the Rams. In addition, Philadelphia University guaranteed themselves home-court advantage for at least the first round of the conference tournament, with postseason play beginning on Saturday, March 1. Sophomore forward Malcolm Ingram (Philadelphia, Pa./Solebury Prep) also shined in the victory, scoring a team-high 19 points in addition to nine rebounds and two steals. Sophomore center Mike Yocum (Dresher, Pa./Episcopal Academy) also netted double-figure scoring, equaling his season high of 15 points, while also accounting for eight rebounds and three blocked shots in the contest. Sophomore point guard Russell Frederick (Joppa, Md./Calvert Hall) dished a game-high seven assists while scoring five points and securing five boards. Over the weekend at The Gallagher Center, senior forward Ashley Webster scored a game-high 18 points, impelling Philadelphia University to an 85-53 win over visiting Felician College. All 11 Lady Rams who were available played in Saturday's game and all 11 scored. The victory improved Philadelphia to 15-8 overall and 8-6 in the CACC. Webster, who now has 1,122 career points, moved past former Lady Rams' standout Valerie Ridge '89 into 20th place, and needs just eight points to take possession of 18th place. The lone senior also notched two steals in the game, vaulting ahead of former star Darlene Hildebrand '95 into fifth place on Philadelphia University's all-time list for takeaways. In addition to Webster, sophomore center Jessica Romano and freshman forward Kate Brennan also found double-figures in scoring for Head Coach Tom Shirley, finishing with 16 points and 15 points, respectively. Also last Saturday at home, sophomore forward Malcolm Ingram poured in a game-high 29 points and collected 12 rebounds, guiding the Philadelphia University men's basketball team to an 88-76 win over Felician College on Saturday afternoon at the Gallagher Center. With the victory, Head Coach Herb Magee's team has won ten of its past 11 and improves to 16-11 overall and 13-0 in the CACC. Senior forward Jason Hickenbottom added 19 points for the Rams while junior guard Mike Dunn (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin; pictured below) finished with 16 points, including the 1000th point of his career. In doing so, Dunn became the 46th men's player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone, impressive in just his third season. In the upcoming week, the women play three key CACC games, at University of the Sciences on Tue., Feb. 19 at 6:00 p.m., at home vs. Georgian Court on Thurs., Feb. 21 at 7:00 p.m. and again at The Gallagher Center on Sat., Feb. 23 at 2:00 p.m. vs. Caldwell. The men's team will be in action twice, closing out doubleheaders at USP on Tue. at 8:00 p.m. and at home against Caldwell on Sat. at 4:00 p.m. If you can't make it to the arena on campus for home games here in the all-important stretch drive of the regular season, you now have three digital methods to follow the Rams and Lady Rams on the Division II hardwood: Log onto the new live stats service Listen to live audio play-by-play on Teamline Watch pay-per-view video via Penn Atlantic at CACC.tv. also available for most away games