PHILADELPHIA (12/7/02) - The main question being bantered around the Saint Joseph's postgame media conferences lately is - "How long can Saint Joseph's play with this defensive intensity?". Hawk coach Phil Martelli believes there is no reason why his team can not keep up the pressure on his team's opponents, and after SJU posted another defensive gem, a 50-37 win over city-rival Drexel in the opener of the Philadelphia Big Five Classic at the Palestra on Saturday afternoon, who can argue. "We have an unsung hero here," stated Martelli. "Saint Joseph's has made a commitment to strength and conditioning. We have the best. Oklahoma Football does not have it better...Miami Football, nor Penn State Football...The people that we have from the Summit Sports program have put these guys in position to play at this level." The Hawks defense has been simply the best in the nation this year. It has now held its last three opponents under 50 points, the first time a Hawk team has done this since 1951. Drexel's 37 points are the fewest scored against a SJU team since January 10, 1984, when the Hawks spanked Martelli's alma mater, Widener, 77-35 at the Fieldhouse. It is also the fewest a Division I opponent has scored since Jimmy Lynam's "four-to-score" offense slowed down the #15 Georgetown Hoyas fro a 37-36 win in Washington on January 2, 1979. "That is exactly the way we guard on every possession at practice," added Martelli on his team's defense. "The pressure defense is relentless." "It is a couple different calls,' he added. "It has nothing to do with schemes. It is not some revelation by coaching Gods that zapped me in the brain. It is six mean, tough perimeter guys and inside guys...and what Dwayne Jones did in the last 12 minutes was as significant as anything else that went on in the game" Martelli's perimeter guys, in particular Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Tyrone Barley, helped force Drexel into turning the ball over 27 times, more than double the number of field goals (13) the Dragons connected on. That trio combined for nine of the Hawks' 13 steals in the contest. West also led SJU in rebounding (9), and assists (5) while tying Nelson for team scoring honors with 12 points. SJU also forced former Hawk standout Bruiser Flint's team into 13-of-44 shooting from the field for 29.5 percent. That is the second time this season that SJU has held an opponent under 30 percent from the field. Offensively, the Hawks still need a lot of work, as Martelli remarked in the postgame session. With Nelson on the bench for 12 minutes in the first half, the Hawks managed just 10 points. In the second half, when the Dragons, trailing by 18 (39-21, 10:48), went on a 13-0 run to cut the margin to five (39-34) with 6:54 remaining, the offense was non-existent. The Hawks defense then keyed a 6-1 run over the next three minutes, forcing three Dragon turnovers, to get back to a comfortable (45-35) margin. "This is how defense is supposed to be played," stated Nelson. "We have to use our athletic ability. We have great athletes on this team and we have to use that to our advantage. The Hawks, now 5-0 for the first time since 1980-81, will put their defense to the test again on Monday when they host Delaware at the Fieldhouse (7:00 p.m.).