PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team scored 53 second half points as the Hawks closed the regular season with an 88-74 win against the La Salle Explorers on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, St. Joe's locks down the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship and will play its first game on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. It is the best seed for SJU since the 2005 tournament when it was the No. 1 seed in the East Division.
BY THE NUMBERS
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Hawks got off to a hot start from the floor, hitting on six of their first nine shots. Four different players found the bottom of the net as St. Joe's got out to a 13-7 lead five minutes into the contest.
- La Salle worked its way back into the game with defense, going on a 10-2 run during which they forced SJU to go 0-for-3 and commit two turnovers, taking a 19-18 lead.
- The game went back and forth through the remainder of the half. With 1.9 seconds left, a pair of free throws from Jaden Smith moved St. Joe's on top 35-34 at the break.
- Saint Joseph's came out of the locker room with the jump, outscoring the Explorers 20-10 through the first eight minutes to open a 55-45 lead.
- La Salle came back and sliced the lead to 57-54 with just more than nine minutes remaining, but the Hawks rallied, netting nine of the next 12 points. The Explorers never got closer than eight the rest of the contest.
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's is the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship and opens its run on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. against a yet to be determined opponent. The game will air on CNBC.
