GAME NOTES: The Saint Joseph's Hawks aim to soar in the land of the Rocky Mountains as they take on the Denver Pioneers in non-conference play at Magness Arena on Monday.

The Hawks, who will begin Atlantic 10 Conference play at the start of the new year, are hoping to string together three straight wins for the first time this season when they land in the Mile High City. Saint Joseph's is coming off consecutive victories against Loyola-Maryland (68-42) and Marist (75-58), the latter being played just over a week ago on the road.

Meanwhile, the Pioneers are still waiting to put together even two wins in a row as they deal with a two-game slide at the moment and losing four of the last five overall. On Dec. 21, the program was held below 50 points for the third time in the last seven outings as it suffered a 48-46 setback versus Bryant University at home.

Following this contest the Pioneers will play two more games at home, versus South Dakota State and South Dakota, before finally leaving town to challenge Fort Wayne on Jan. 8.

The Hawks are already 2-0 versus Denver, the most recent victory in the series coming last season by a score of 53-52 in Philadelphia. Prior to that, the teams had been estranged since their initial meeting way back in 1947.

Against an opponent that had already lost nine of the first 10 games of the season, the Hawks had little trouble taking out the Marist Red Foxes thanks to the efforts of Isaiah Miles who scored a career-high 23 points as he converted 4-of-7 shots behind the 3-point line. DeAndre Bembry filled his stat line with 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, followed by Aaron Brown with 10 points and five boards off the bench for a unit that converted 56 percent from the floor.

Bembry, the A-10 Co-Rookie of the Year in 2013-14, is playing more than 37 minutes per game and due to his lengthy periods of play he leads the team in scoring with 14.9 ppg. Capable of doing almost anything in order to keep the Hawks competitive, Bembry also paces Saint Joseph's on the glass (6.7 rpg), in the passing department (30 assists) and on defense (21 steals), and still this is a program that is scoring only 59.9 ppg. Thankfully, the defense has responded by limiting opponents to just 62.3 ppg.

Denver looked absolutely dreadful in the first half against the visitors in the most recent outing, with the Pioneers shooting only 6-of-19 from the floor and missing all seven chances behind the 3-point line. The team trailed 22-12 at the break after not shooting a single free-throw through the first 20 minutes, but made up for it with a perfect 19-of-19 performance in the second half at the charity stripe, but still that wasn't enough to get back into the win column.

Cam Griffin tallied 14 points and six rebounds as he converted all three of his field goals and was 8-of-8 at the line, while the aptly-named Bryant Rucker dropped in 11 points off the bench during a game in which Denver shot only 1-of-13 on the outside and finished with more turnovers (14) than field goals (13).

One of three players to have started every game, Griffin leads the Pioneers in scoring with 13.1 ppg, shooting 54.2 percent from the floor and 81.7 percent at the stripe. Nate Engesser pitches in with 11.4 ppg, thanks in large part to his 25-of-52 accuracy beyond the arc, followed by Brett Olson with 11.1 ppg, to go along with a team-high 38 assists.

Traveling across the country is never easy and playing in another altitude is also something that can limit an opponent when they land in Denver. Even though the Pioneers have had to fight hard for their wins of late, there's a good chance the team could be headed towards a positive performance on Monday.