SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team battled with the Syracuse Orange until the final buzzer, but were upended, 71-63 on Thursday night.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Deuce Jones II led the Hawks with 18 points, adding seven rebounds and a team-high five assists. Defensively, he came away with four steals.
• Jaiden Glover-Toscano netted 14, 10 of them coming in the second half. He also had nine boards, adding two blocks and a steal.
• Dasear Haskins scored 10.
• Derek Simpson tallied nine with eight caroms.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Hawks shot well early and held Syracuse to 1-for-7 from the floor in the opening five minutes. The Orange stayed in the game at the free throw line with SJU holding an 8-7 lead at the first media timeout.
• St. Joe's pushed the lead out to 14-8 before SU went on a 12-1 run. Toward the end of the half, SU went up 32-25 with 1:40 remaining, but Simpson came alive, scoring five in a row on a pair of free throws and a three-pointer as the Hawks went into the locker room trailing 34-30.
• Opening the second stanza, the Orange opened a 38-32 lead, but back-to-back layups by Haskins and a drive along the baseline for a score from Glover-Toscano tied the game at 38-38.
• The game remained within one possession or tied for the next four minutes before the Orange got an old-fashioned three-point play and drained a trey on consecutive trips down the floor, forcing a Saint Joseph's timeout.
• Saint Joseph's would cut the lead back to a single point at 51-50 with 10:36 remaining, but SU methodically built the lead to 10 and were able to hold off a SJU push at the end.

 
UP NEXT
St. Joe's is off until Thursday, December 18 when it hosts Delaware State. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with the game to air on ESPN+.