PHILADELPHIA, PA (2-1-01) -- Is it better to be
lucky or good? Tonight, before a sold-out,
rollicking crowd at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse,
Saint Joseph's was both. In a contest that
featured high quality basketball by both teams,
the Hawks rode the wave of a miraculous
buzzer-beater at the end of regulation by
Jameer Nelson to a 104-97 overtime victory over
St. Bonaventure.
It was a game that was well-played in nearly all facets. Every player who
scored for the Hawks hit double figures. Nine of ten starters on both
sides of the court wound up with at least 11 points. Three Bonnies
scored at least 20, including J.R. Bremer, who hit for a game-high 30
points by going on a three-point binge in the second half.
Yet somehow, despite shooting 53% from the field and outrebounding
the Bonnies by a 50-32 margin, the Hawks found themselves trailing by
five, 86-81, with only 22 ticks on the clock, setting the stage for
Nelson's heroics.
With St. Bonaventure defending the perimeter, he drove for a basket to
cut the lead to three, at 86-83. Playing with four fouls, Nelson avoided
fouling Bremer on the next trip down the court despite being the only
player near enough to hack him, instead waiting for
Tyrone Barley to
catch up and do the honors. Bremer connected on one of two free
throws to stretch the lead back to four, at 87-83.
Robert Cheeks fouled
Marvin O'Connor on the Hawks' next possession,
who sank both foul shots to cut the lead to two before Saint Joseph's
fouled Marques Green with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Green missed the second of two attempts, leaving the window open for
a comeback. It nearly closed in a hurry.
After grabbing the rebound, Erick Woods hesitated for a second before
throwing an outlet to Nelson, who streaked downcourt before pulling up
thrity feet from the basket and letting it fly.
Asked if he thought Woods was ever going to pass him the ball, Nelson
said, "It looked like Erick was in kind of a daze, so I screamed at him.
'Woods!' Then he picked up his head, and threw me the ball, because I
was the closest guy to him. Everyone else was running down the court.
"They left me wide open, not knowing that I have thirty foot range."
Asked following the game if he was disappointed in his defense, given
the score of the game, Hawks coach
Phil Martelli replied, "Not at all. I
think that they have good perimeter players. We held them to 45%, and
made them make some shots.
"But still, the kid misses a free throw, they're up three, and they think
it's over. You could put 'Duke' on their jersey, 'St. Bonaventure' , or
'Milwaukee Bucks.' The kids assume that it's over, that only a
miraculous shot can beat them. And that's what it was."
Martelli summed up Nelson's coming-of-age before he surrendered the
podium to his point guard.
"You make a shot like that, you can become a legend in a hurry."