Hawks open account, and arena, with blowout win

After a rough 0-2 start on the road, the Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball team finally got its chance to open up the Michael J. Hagan, ’85 Arena with a bang. With a notably smaller but nevertheless spirited crowd than the men’s opener, the Hawks tipped off their first game in the new arena with their first win of the season over University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 77-55.

The Hawks got off to a slow start, and an 8-1 run by UMBC to open the game left the Hawks in need of an early rally. The Hawks fought their way back into the game, keeping it within reach until they were able to take the lead with 13:02 left in the first half thanks to a Sportscenter Top-10-worthy layup by Mariame Djouara, ’10. Rebounds by both Djouara and Ashley Logue, ’10, combined with ball-handling miscues by the Retrievers, helped the Hawks maintain a lead that got as large as seven points. Sloppy play near the end of the half, however, allowed UMBC to inch back into the game and cut the Hawks’ advantage to just three, 34-31, at the half.

Now it’s Paradise: Hawks topple Boston College

How do you improve on paradise? How about with some winning basketball?

The Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team tallied their biggest win in some time with a huge 84-80 upset of Jesuit rival Boston College tonight in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Garrett Williamson, ’10, led the way with 18 points, including the team’s final 10 points to secure the victory.  With the Hawks down 76-74 with 2:03 left, Williamson drove the lane and hit a layup to tie the game at 76. Two possessions later, Williamson was again active in the lane, laying the ball in and completing the old-fashioned three-point play from the line to give the Hawks a 79-76 lead. He would add five free throws on six attempts down the stretch to seal the win.

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Carl Jones, ’13, and Darrin Govens, ’10, each added 16 points for St. Joe’s (3-0). Chris Prescott, ’12, and Idris Hilliard, ’11, each had nine, while Charoy Bentley, ’11, chipped in seven big bench points. The Hawks had nine of the 10 players who hit the floor score, accounting for 29 bench points.

The Hawks were paced by a huge effort from three, as they converted 10 of 21 attempts (47.6 percent) from deep, including 4-6 from Govens and 3-4 from Jones. They were outrebounded 46-38 and still managed just 57 shots, but limited turnovers (11 against 13 assists), and converted 20 of 27 attempts from the line.

Boston College was led by 20 points from Joe Trapani, but he didn’t score in the last 13 minutes of the game and spent large spells on the bench due to foul trouble. Reggie Jackson had 18 points and 11 boards, while Corey Raji, back after a two-game suspension, had 11 points.

The Hawks now sit in the winner’s bracket where they await the winner of Purdue and South Dakota State. Purdue is ranked no. 7 in the nation, but is without the services of starting point guard Lewis Jackson.

-Matthew De George ’10

St. Joe’s-Holy Cross game notes

For the full game story, visit The Hawk’s main site.

– For those of you keeping score at home, that’s two games in a row for Michael J. Hagan and Timothy Lannon, S.J. Good to see the turnout by the dignitaries continuing past the initial photo op.

– It’s also two straight big turnouts from the students. While there were considerable chunks of empty seats on the sides of the Arena, the student section was pretty densely packed; I’d have to say they were pushing 1,400 to 1,500. Means a lot of missed Tuesday night classes.

– Justin Crosgile, ’13, suited up for tonight’s game, though he didn’t make an appearance on the court. Team doctors were aiming to get him back into playing condition for the start of the Paradise Jam this weekend, but he appears to be a bit ahead of schedule.

– The starting five was the same for St. Joe’s tonight, with Chris Prescott, ’12, again earning the start. This one wasn’t due to a missed class by Carl Jones, ’13; Martelli appears to be sticking with what has worked. It was, however, a more confident Prescott than I have ever seen at St. Joe’s, which could be a major difference maker come Atlantic 10 time.

– The Hawk, Brienne Ryan, ’10, probably came out of the game the worst for wear of anyone on the St. Joe’s squad. At the under eight media timeout in the first half, she got absolutely planted by referee Bill McCarthy in the middle of a figure eight. McCarthy was able to shake off the hit and keep going, and Ryan eventually finished her run, albeit with a few less feathers than she started with.

– Disappointing note for A.J. Rogers, ’12, who was all set to be the 10th Hawk to enter the game in the first half, but Prescott’s missed second free throw with 47 ticks left kept him on the bench. It would have been his first minutes of the season.

– It could have been a big day for the A-10, with several marquee matchups. Temple lost on a last minute lay-in by Greg Monroe to the No. 20 ranked Georgetown Hoyas, 46-45, in the Zoloft Classic. Charlotte travelled across state to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a 101-59 shellacking at the hands of eighth-ranked Duke. Xavier took care of business with a 101-57 beatdown of Bowling Green, while Duquesne scored a victory over a major conference team with an uncharacteristically low-scoring 52-50 win at Iowa.

– Matthew De George ’10

LIVE: St. Joe’s-Drexel Game blog

10:15- That’s all for tonight; hope you enjoyed our live blog from the first ever game at the Hagan Arena. A thought to go home with: The Hawks lost their first game in the old Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse in 1949, a 62-46 loss to Rhode Island. Just some food for thought about what the next sixty years may have in store.

Goodnight everybody.

10:10- Well, it was far from pretty on both ends–“Not a thing of beauty,” as Martelli put it–but the Hawks were able to get it done tonight, and all with Garrett Williamson as a spectator for most of the overtime period. Govens stepped up big in the waning minutes to add some shine to an overall lackluster performance in which Martelli said he “started the first half too slow, and then in the second half, played at a pace he’s not capable of.” He still finished with a game-high 23, 18 of which came in the second half and overtime.

Lots of credit has to go to the youngsters, with Carl Jones (who missed out on the start only because of a missed class this week) and Todd O’Brien coming up huge down the stretch. O’Brien nailed the eventual game winner, and finished with nine points and eight rebounds. Jones was Martelli’s go-to guy down the stretch, logging 31 minutes and finishing with 13 points, including 9 of 12 from the line.

Also in double figures for the Hawks was Idris Hilliard, who slowed in the second half with only one field goal, but still managed 16 points and seven rebounds while leading the Hawks with 40 minutes played. Williamson, despite eight turnovers, also chipped in 11. He and Govens combined for 13 of the Hawks’ 19 turnovers, against just 11 total assists on the game, which was one of Martelli’s biggest post-game concerns.

The Dragons were led by 20 points from Jamie Harris, and a double-double total of 16 points and 12 rebounds. Derrick Thomas added 14 on 4-11 from three. Evan Neisler was held in check tonight, managing just three points on 1-3 shooting against five fouls. Despite a 45-34 rebounding edge for the Dragons, they committed eight more fouls and allowed the Hawks over twice as many free throw opportunities (42 to 20), which the Hawks converted at a 78.6 percent clip (33-42). The Dragons also had three players, including two starters, foul out to go along with a technical foul and two intentional fouls.

But the star of the show tonight, according to Martelli, was the at least 1,700-man strong student section, which he admitted “choked him up”.

“If I had dreamed what it would look like, not that I did, but that would have surpassed my dream,” he said. “They lifted our team with their energy, and I salute them for that.”

Where will the Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team finish in the Atlantic 10 this season?

Fall Roundup: Field hockey fall short again; men’s soccer redefines futility

Lost in The Hawk’s basketball preview hoopla, the fall season at St. Joe’s officially culminated with the final games for men’s soccer and field hockey taking place last weekend, under vastly different circumstances.

Field hockey’s season once again ended in the Atlantic 10 Championships, the ninth straight season the Hawks have qualified for the final four in the conference without taking home the title.

This year’s culprit was cross-town rival and third-seeded Temple, who defeated the Hawks, 3-0, to finish their season. In the other semifinal, top-seeded Richmond defeated hosts Massachusetts, 2-1 in overtime, and triumphed over Temple in the title game, 3-0.