Saint Joseph's (2-0) scored the first 14 points of the second half en route to a 73-62 win over Niagara (0-2) in the first game of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Hagan Arena. Seniors Isaiah Miles and Aaron Brown scored 14 points apiece while DeAndre' Bembry and freshman Pierfrancesco Oliva each scored 12.
Bembry, who was scoreless in the first half, netted eight straight points in the first 75 seconds of the second half to give the Hawks a 42-31 lead. Miles had five points in that 14-0 run which gave SJU its biggest lead of the game, 48-31, with 14:15 to play.
Oliva, a forward from Italy, added a team-high eight rebounds along with five assists, while Bembry handed out seven assists for Saint Joseph's, which shot 51.6 percent from the field in the second half. Miles shot 5-for-7 in the game and had a team-high four blocks.
The teams traded leads in the first half as Niagara connected on six three-pointers in the half. The visitors' biggest lead was 17-13 with over eight minutes to play, but Saint Joseph's went on a 9-0 run, with seven points from Brown, to take a 21-17 lead with 6:09 to play in the half.
Niagara closed to 27-25 on a three by Chris Barton, but the Hawks responded with five straight to build the lead back up to 32-25 at 1:38. The Hawks held a 34-28 halftime lead.
“The start is inexcusable and the players were challenged, but that would not be repeated in the second half. I thought we jumped right away in the second half and then got ahead of ourselves a little bit with some rushed plays. We really shouldn't be a team that has 12 turnovers in that kind of game,” said SJU head coach Phil Martelli. "The guys who deserve credit for this are the guys you didn't see play. Brendan Casper, Kyle Thompson, Christian Vega, Mike Booth, Jai Williams, and Javon Baumann. They made up our scout team and were spectacular yesterday. Those guys gave tremendous energy and tremendous effort, and they outplayed the rotation guys at practice yesterday."
"Checco (Oliva) was terrific. He's in there right now beating himself up about the missed lay-ups. He has a very high IQ. He's a magnificent passer and he sees the floor. He has vision. We have to quicken him defensively and strengthen him, and I think he's going to be a special player,” said Martelli.
Niagara was led by 14 points from Matt Scott and 13 from Justin Satchell.
Saint Joseph's continues play in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off hosting Buffalo on Wednesday night at Hagan Arena. The Hawks then travel to Mohegan Sun Arena next weekend to close out tournament play, taking on Florida on Nov. 21 and either Old Dominion or Purdue on Nov. 22.
