BRONX, NY (02/09/02) - A spirited Saint Joseph's team, fueled by the absence of head coach Phil Martelli, jumped out to a 22-5 lead in the first six minutes and never looked back in posting an 84-77 win over Fordham at a sold-out Rose Hill Gym on Saturday afternoon. The Saint Joseph's players did not learn until the morning that Martelli, who had taken ill the previous day, would not be on the sidelines. The group gathered in a meeting room at the Marriott at Glenpointe (Teaneck, NJ) and listened to the Hawk mentor give them some pre-game instructions via a speakerphone. Martelli, who had come down with the flu on Friday, had stayed behind with the intention of traveling to the game on Saturday. His condition, however, did not improve and he was unable to make the trip. "We have one of the best coaches around in Phil Martelli, but we have four terrific seniors who are good leaders," stated assistant coach Matt Brady, who took over in Martelli's absence. "Phil put it on the seniors. He talked to the team at 12 o'clock and said 'this' on the seniors." The seniors responded with a passion. SJU hit its first five shots, four three-pointers and the fifth a three-point-play by Bill Phillips to take an 18-5 lead by the first media timeout. Two fastbreak baskets later and the margin grew to 17 points, 22-5. "I thought the big deal with our team was those first five or six shots, getting out in front," added Brady, who in his ninth season is third on the all-time SJU assistant list for tenure. "because young teams (like Fordham) have a way of questioning themselves." Fordham, 8-14, 4-7 in A-10 play, to its credit, did not go quietly. The Rams cut the lead to five, 33-28, on the strength of a 22-6 run. SJU responded by closing the half out with a 10-3 run, keyed by six points from Phillips, to take a 48-34 lead at intermission. "We made the right plays early in the game," explained Brady. "That set the tone, and then just rode the game out." The Hawks extended their lead to a high of 20 points, 56-36, in the opening minutes of the second half thanks to three-pointers by Jameer Nelson and Damian Reid. Nelson, who played a stellar floor game (15 points, six assists), celebrated his 20th birthday while Reid, who tallied a season high 19 points, joined Na'im Crenshaw and Marvin O'Connor as active 1,000-point scorers. It marks the first time in SJU history that a Hawk team had three 1000-point scorers. SJU's balanced offensive attack, featuring all five starters in double figures, counteracted the Rams' Smush Parker, who penetrated the Hawk defense for a career-high 32 points. Mark Jarrell-Wright also added 17 for Fordham, but that was about the extent of its attack. The Rams did close to within six, 66-60, with just under eight minutes to play, but the Hawks answered, hitting 12-of-14 free throws down the stretch as they spread the floor and let Nelson dribble around the Ram defenders. "I told the team in pre-game that every team has to overcome some adversity at some point," stated Brady. "And the mark of a great team is that you overcome adversity." Reid was joined as the Hawks' leading scorer by Phillips (19) who is now just 106 points shy of his 1000th SJU point. He already has the topped the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career thanks to 217 points during his stay at William & Mary. O'Connor added 17 points and five assists while Crenshaw contributed 14 points. It marked the first time all season that SJU received no offense off its bench. Delonte West was held scoreless for just the third time all year and Alexandre Sazonov missed the game due to pain in his foot caused by his stress reaction. It was also just the second time the Hawks had all five starters score in double figures. The last time was game two, in a 74-63 win over Princeton in the BCA Classic. The Hawks, 15-7, 9-1, are now tied with Xavier for the best record in the A-10. The Musketeers fell at St. Bonaventure, 80-79. That sets up a showdown in Cincinnati next Saturday night. Before then, SJU will travel to Richmond to play the Spiders, the newest team in the conference, on Wednesday night (7:30 P/WPEN 950 AM).