DeAndre' Bembry scored 23 points and Aaron Brown added 15 points as Saint Joseph's defeated Drexel, 82-81, in the season opener for both teams before a sold-out crowd at Hagan Arena.
Senior Isaiah Miles had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while freshman Pierfrancesco Oliva scored 12 points in his collegiate debut.
The Hawks held a 77-65 lead on a three-pointer by Oliva with 2:34 to play, but Drexel outscored SJU, 13-6, to pull within 82-78 with 18 seconds remaining. The Hawks missed four free throws in the final 18 seconds and Drexel's Rashann London hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to provide the final margin.
Tavon Allen led Drexel (0-1) with 20 points while Terrell Allen added 18 points. London scored 11 points for the Dragons.
Although Saint Joseph's led, 61-51 with under nine minutes to play in the second half, Drexel cut it to 62-56 on a a layup by Kazembe Abi. Layups by Bembry, Oliva and four straight points from James Demery maintained the Hawks' cushion and built the lead to 70-51. The teams traded baskets with Bembry scoring another and Miles dunking in an offensive rebounds, to give SJU a 74-65 edge. After a Drexel miss, Oliva connected on the three-pointer to push the Hawks' lead to 77-65.
Martelli called that shot by Oliva a "dagger", and said, "When I told him (Oliva) the other night that he was starting, he just looked at me. He said that he didn't think that he had played that well in the preseason and that he would play better. That was Tuesday. Wednesday, he had his best practice of the year, and so did James [Demery] and Chris [Clover]. It was really heartwarming to see them respond that way. Checco (Oliva) is a high IQ player and very mature."
Saint Joseph's was in control from the start, running out to a 15-2 lead in the first six minutes. Drexel used an 11-5 run to come within 20-13, but then the Hawks took their biggest lead of the game, 29-13, with 9:13 to play in the first half. The Dragons came within 33-28 late in the first half, but the Hawks used a pair of free throws by Bembry to take a 44-34 edge into halftime.
Bembry shot 11-for-15 from the foul line and 8-for-12 from the field. Miles was 5-for-9 as the Hawks connected on 53.8 percent from the field in the second half. Oliva added four rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in his debut.
The teams combined to shoot 67 free throws in the game, with Saint Joseph's going 28-39 from the line.
"The reason that these guys are starting is because they're better for us offensively. It was good to feel that the rhythm was going. I thought that Shavar (Newkirk) and Fresh (Kimble) ran their team," said Martelli. "They didn't particularly throw up great numbers, and we have to clean up the end of our shot clock. We had a stretch there where we had two really bad plays. We have to improve on that for Sunday (against Niagara)."
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Sunday when they host Niagara in the first game of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at 5 p.m. The broadcast will be on the A-10 Network and 610 Sports Radio.
