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Saint Joseph's Upsets St. BonaventureGalloway (27 points) and Jones (20) lead the way
To say that it's been a tough season for Phil Martelli and his Saint Joseph's Hawks would be an understatement, but Saturday provided a temporary salve in the form of a 79-65 win over St. Bonaventure at Hagan Arena. Langston Galloway scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Hawks (8-20, 3-11) and Carl Jones added 20, allowing SJU to remain in the conversation for one of the final spots in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament. Andrew Nicholson scored a game-high 28 points to lead St. Bonaventure (15-12, 7-7) but their poor shooting from three proved to be too much to overcome on the road. Saint Joseph's shot an impressive 61.5% from the field for the game, including 11-for-17 from beyond the arc to combat the Bonnies' 51.1% night. The three-point line proved to be the difference as the Hawks outscored St. Bonaventure by 18 points (33-15) in that department. C.J. Aiken added 14 points off the bench for the Hawks, who kicked off the scoring with a Ronald Roberts layup just over a minute into the game. Nicholson was able to answer at the 18:09 mark with his first points, and by the first media timeout the teams were tied at nine. A Nicholson free throw following the timeout gave the Bonnies a 10-9 lead with 15:56 remaining, and SJU regained the lead on a Jones layup 35 seconds later.
Neither team led by more than four points in the half, and the Hawks closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room. The Bonnies remained close thanks to 10 points off of six SJU turnovers. Galloway (14 points) and Nicholson (16) were near unstoppable for their respective teams in the half, and Saint Joseph's shot a scalding 66.7% from the field. But after a Michael Davenport free throw 11 seconds into the second half pulled Mark Schmidt's team to within three at 38-35 the Hawks gained a level of separation that proved to be insurmountable. SJU went on a 13-3 run over the next six minutes, taking a 51-38 lead on a Jones three with 13:09 left in the game. Demitrius Conger answered with a three of his own but a Daryus Quarles trifecta pushed the margin back out to 13. St. Bonaventure would close to within seven just after the under-8 media timeout on a Nicholson basket with 7:38 remaining, and a three-point play from the big man a minute later cut the lead to four at 56-52. But that would be as close as the Bonnies would get, with another Jones three sparking an 11-3 run over the next three minutes. From there Saint Joseph's would capitalize on easy shot opportunities and free throws to wrap up the victory. The Hawks next take the floor on Wednesday night when they host Richmond, and the Bonnies play their regular season road finale the same night at Duquesne.
By: Raphielle Johnson |