DeAndre' Bembry scored a game-high 22 points and Aaron Brown tallied 19 to lead Saint Joseph's (12-3; 2-1 A-10) to a 72-67 win over Rhode Island (10-6; 2-1) at Hagan Arena.
 
Bembry also had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals while notching the 20th 20-plus point game of his career. Brown was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range while Isaiah Miles added 10 points for SJU, which has won eight of its last nine games.
 
Hassan Martin led Rhode Island with 20 points and eight rebounds on 8-for-15 shooting. Kuran Iverson scored 13 points and Jarvis Garrett added 12 points and six assists as the Rams had their three-game winning streak come to an end.
 
The game was tied at the half, 38-38, but Saint Joseph's came out strong after the break, going on a 10-2 run, fueled by a pair of threes from Bembry, to take a 48-40 lead. The Hawks increased it to their biggest margin of the game, 52-43, on a layup by Miles at 13:30, but that would be the last SJU points for a span of over seven minutes.
 
Rhode Island shut down SJU for 7:25 while going on a 10-0 run to take a 53-52, for what would be its only lead of the half.
 
James Demery answered with a three-point play at 6:07 to regain the lead for the Hawks, 55-53, at 6:08. Bembry had a hand in the next eight Hawks' points, assisting on a pair of threes by Brown, and converting a layup at 2:22 to give SJU a 65-58 lead.
 
Saint Joseph's would hold onto the lead thanks to 7-for-8 foul shooting in the final 1:43, with four from Shavar Newkirk.

"Rhode Island is doing a lot of good things, so we take this as a very positive win because of how much respect I have for what they're doing. I thought it was a 50-50 game going in and that we would have to play better than we did the other night (vs. VCU), particularly from the foul line," said Hawk coach Phil Martelli. "James Demery had a big 'and one' play and Aaron Brown had a couple of threes."

"Defensively, I thought to start the second half we were much better than in the first half. In the first half, [Hassan] Martin was on his way to a fieldhouse record, and [Kuran] Iverson hurt us. But we got something from everyone in the line-up, and now we have to go on the road and measure up. We gave a home game away on Tuesday, and you can't do that if you want to be in the top half of this league."

"The players and the coaches, their body language has been down, and I've been all over them. The season didn't end of Wednesday. It was a setback. We have to keep fighting and pulling. Good teams don't lose two in a row," said the coach.

The first half was tight with 16 lead changes, nine ties and neither team holding a lead of more than four points. SJU had a 38-34 lead with 3:55 to go, but Martin scored fourth straight to knot the game 38-38 at the half. Rhode Island hit 51.9 percent but the Hawks had only three turnovers.
 
The Hawks return to the road on Wednesday, January 13 to face George Mason.