PHILADELPHIA – On a day where Philadelphia began to dig out from a blizzard that dropped in excess of two feet of snow across the region, the Saint Joseph's men's basketball team did some digging out of its own, overcoming an 11-point first-half deficit to cruise past La Salle, 69-48, at Tom Gola Arena on Sunday evening.
Junior DeAndre' Bembry led all scorers with 16 points and handed out six assists. Senior Isaiah Miles chipped in with 14 points and nine rebounds and freshman Lamarr Kimble contributed 10 points as the Hawks won their fifth in a row and 12th out of their last 13.
Trailing 19-8, the Hawks closed out the first half with a 20-3 run to take a 28-22 lead at halftime, and never trail again. The 11-point comeback is a season-best for SJU; the Hawks previously stormed back from an nine-point deficit at Richmond on January 2.
The Hawks fell behind early, 12-5, as they missed all six of their three-point attempts and then trailed 19-8 with 8:20 to play. Aaron Brown and Kimble then started a run for the Hawks, with four points apiece. Five straight points from Bembry, including the Hawks' first three-pointer in eight tries, tied the score at 21-21. Papa Ndao followed with a three-pointer at 1:45 to give SJU its first lead of the game, 24-21, while a steal and layup by Bembry, and layup by Ndao, finished the run and gave the Hawks a 28-22 halftime advantage.
Miles scored five straight to start the second half for SJU, and the Hawks held a 32-22 lead to complete a 21-point swing. La Salle scored four straight and pulled within 34-28, but Miles followed with six consecutive points to help SJU regain the double-digit cushion, 40-28. A jumper by Bembry at 3:17 pushed the Saint Joseph's lead to over 20 points, 63-42.
The Hawks shot 50 percent from the field in the second half, but managed just a 3-for-19 effort from three-point range in the game.
La Salle (5-12; 1-5) was led by Jordan Price with 14 points and Cleon Roberts with 12.
The game had originally been scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed due to the storm.
Saint Joseph's closes out its stretch of four consecutive games in Philadelphia when it hosts Massachusetts on Wednesday, January 27 at Hagan Arena.
