FAIRFAX, VA. – Isaiah Miles had 26 points and 10 rebounds and DeAndre' Bembry posted 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to lead Saint Joseph's to an 87-73 win over George Mason (6-11; 0-4) at the EagleBank Arena.
Miles connected on 8-of-10 from the field and was 8-for-8 from the foul line for the Hawks, who improve to 13-3 (3-1 A-10).
Senior Papa Ndao, who made his first start of the season in place of the injured Pierfrancesco Oliva (ankle), matched his career-high with 13 points, a number he had established in this building two years ago. Shavar Newkirk added 12 points for SJU while going 8-for-10 from the foul line while James Demery had 13 off the bench.
After a 54 percent shooting performance in the first half, the Hawks went just 9-for-31 (29 percent) in the second, allowing George Mason to stay within 10 points for most of the half, while coming as close as six points.
"We're trying to lean on our defense," said head coach Phil Martelli. "That was poor defense in the second half, in particular. We got too comfortable, and it was team defense, not individual defense. Now we're halfway through the season, and that's a wrinkle that hasn't surfaced for us. And we have to make sure it doesn't become a worry."
With SJU leading 72-65, Ndao hit back-to-back threes with under three minutes to play to give SJU a 78-67 lead. From there, the Hawks went 9-for-11 from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
Saint Joseph's was in control in the first half, holding a 46-35 halftime lead. But Mason ran off the first eight points of the second half to pull within 46-43, until Bembry ended the 8-0 run with a layup at 16:50, and followed with a dunk to push SJU's lead to 50-43.
Demery hit his third three of the game to give SJU a 59-46 lead and jumper by Miles extended it to 61-48.
Mason cut its deficit to 65-58, but Javon Baumann blocked a shot that led to a Hawks' fastbreak, with Demery converting the layup to give SU a 67-58 cushion. Otis Livingston's three-pointer brought the Patriots within 67-61 with over six minutes left, but a 5-2 Saint Joseph's run kept the Hawks ahead, 72-63.
"The bigger player was Javon Baumann, because Papa [Ndao] got into foul trouble trying to do too much on defense and then at times not doing enough. Javon did a really nice job for us in the low post."
After converting 8-of-15 three-point attempts in the first half, the Hawks shot 3-for-16 in the second.
"Some guys struggled tonight," added Martelli. "We have to have them take the same shot and my only thing would be, we have a tendency to get quick. You have to think quick and you have to move quick, but you can't just shoot the ball quick. You're open for a reason. Teams are playing the numbers."
Saint Joseph's was out of the gate quickly, hitting 7-of-9 shots to start the game and building up a 19-8 lead.
Mason made an 8-0 run to pull within 19-16, but Bembry ended the streak with a three-pointer to give Saint Joseph's a 22-16 edge. The Patriots answered back and pulled within one, but the Hawks used a run of three-pointers – two each from Demery and Miles – to maintain a 34-26 lead.
A three-point play by Ndao and a three-pointer by Bembry extended SJU's lead to its biggest of the half, 40-26, at 4:26. Despite four straight from Mason, the Hawks still went into halftime with a 46-35 lead.
Miles shot 6-for-7 from the field in the first half, with six straight, while making two threes and going 2-for-2 from the foul line to post a game-high 16 points. Bembry had 12 in the half as he and Miles combined to go 4-for-6 from three-point range.
The Hawks return home to host Fordham on Saturday afternoon.
