Game Info: Wednesday, November 4, 2026 - 7:00 PM
Location: Hagan Arena - Philadelphia, Pa.
Tickets | TV: ESPN+ (Mayy Martucci - PXP / Joe Lunardi - Analyst) | Listen: sjuhawks.com.(Mike Samsel - PXP) | Live Stats: sjuhawks.com | Saint Joseph's Game Notes

Social Media
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Opening Tip
Saint Joseph's (0-0) opens its season at home, hosting the Longwood Lancers (1-0) on Wednesday, November 4. Tipoff from Hagan Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Year Two    
Steve Donahue enters his second season as the head coach at Saint Joseph's. His 24 wins last year are the second-most by a first-year SJU head coach, trailing only Jim Boyle, whose 1981-82 team went 25-5. The 24 wins are the most in a season for the Hawks since 2015-16.

Dominant D, Team Edition
Part of the reason the Hawks won 24 games and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals was the lockdown defense the team played in the final three months of the year. Saint Joseph's was 24th nationally from January 4 through the end of the season in defensive efficiency at 98.2. By comparison, the national average during that time was 109.3. Defensive efficiency rates how many points a team would give up per 100 possessions, with a lower number being better. Saint Joseph's went 16-5 in the span.

Dominant D, Individual Edition
When measuring individual players, a defensive efficiency rating of 85.0 is considered elite, which makes what Jaiden Glover-Toscano and Austin Williford did against the best the Atlantic 10 had to offer even more impressive. Against the top-10 scoring guards in the A10, JGT had a defensive efficiency rating of 65.2 and allowed those players to shoot 26.1 percent when he was the primary defender. Not far behind, Williford had a 65.7 defensive efficiency rating with opponents shooting 31.3 percent against him in the same situations. He also forced turnovers in 8.1 percent of possessions when guarding the top scoring guards in the A10.

Reloading, Not Rebuilding
Two of the key components for SJU last season are gone through graduation in Derek Simpson and Justice Ajogbor, but the Hawks have been able to find players to fill those roles. Logan Carey is a transfer from the University of Maine, where he averaged 9.7 points per game last season and was named to the America East All-Defensive Team, coming away with 50 steals in 2025-26 for the Black Bears. Joining Saint Joseph's from conference rival Davidson is Sean Logan, who led the A10 in blocks per game last season with 2.4 and was third with 63 total rejections. He enters the 2026-27 season 10th among active players with 150 career swats. Two other players who bring an interesting dynamic to the defensive side of the ball are Donovan Flamer and Luis Nonfon. Flamer was the CIAA Rookie of the Year last season while playing for Elizabeth City State University and ranked seventh in NCAA D2 with 2.5 blocks per game, while posting 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds a contest. Nonfon comes to SJU from Augusta College, where he averaged 9.8 points and 7.7 boards an outing.

Flocking to Hawk Hill    
In addition to the four transfers mentioned in the last note, one more transfer and three freshmen join St. Joe's for this season. A product of the state of Washington and Oregon State, Gavin Marrs comes east with two years of eligibility remaining. Three freshmen join Saint Joseph's for 2026-27. In alphabetical order, Davis Kemper hails from Byron Center, Michigan, and was Second Team All-Elite Prep last year for Athletes In Action. BJ Ranson was the Maryland Player of the Year last season by MaxPreps. He is a two-time Baltimore Catholic League All-Conference honoree. Keoni Sacco was an Honorable Mention All-Elite Prep last season at Fork Union Military Academy, helping lead the team to a 23-12 record.

Don't Forget About Us!    
Five members of the Hawks return from last season, led by Khaafiq Myers, who averaged 5.1 PPG, 2.9 RPG and 2.3 APG in 2025-26. Mekai Johnson played in 17 games last season. Billy Rayer and Will Lange played in six and five games, respectively. Owen Verna is back after a redshirt season.

20-20-20 Vision    
With its 24-12 record last season, St. Joe's won 20 or more games for the third consecutive season. In the 116 previous years of Saint Joseph's basketball, entering this season, there have only been two other stretches that men's basketball has won 20+ games in three straight years. St. Joe's won 21, 25 and 25 games in the seasons from 1979-80 to 1981-82 and then claimed 26, 30 and 24 victories from 2002-03 through 2004-05.

Scouting Report    

• Longwood went 16-16 last season with an 8-8 mark in the Big South Conference. Finishing fifth in the league, they were dealt an overtime heartbreaker in the Big South quarterfinals with an 85-82 loss against No. 4 seed UNC Asheville. The Lancers were selected fourth in the Big South preseason poll for 2026-27. They are 1-0 after defeating Division III Pfeiffer, 123-67, on Monday night.
• Second Team Preseason All-Conference honoree, sophomore transfer MJ Williams  leads Longwood after appearing in all 32 games for Eastern Kentucky last season, averaging 10.0 points, 4.2 assists and  1.5 steals per game last year. Another force is Alphonzo Billups III, who netted 8.1 points a contest last season after transferring from VCU. Jaylen Benard also returns after putting up 7.3 PPG and 3.7 RPG as a junior last season.
• The Lancers got contributions up and down the lineup last season, ranking 35th nationally with 28.88 bench points per game. They also got to the line and made their free throws, ranking 39th in Division 1 with 17.7 made FT per game and were 42nd with 23.3 attempts a night at the charity stripe.
• Holding on to the ball was a difficult task as Longwood was 342nd nationally with 13.8 turnovers per game. They also did not rely on shooting from deep, ranking 300th in three-point attempts and 316th in triples made per contest.
• Ronnie Thomas is in his second season as the head coach of the Lancers. He is by no means new to the staff, however, joining the program in 2020 as the Director of Recruiting and Program Development before being elevated to an assistant coach in 2021.

All-Time Series    
Wednesday marks the first meeting between Saint Joseph's and Longwood in men's basketball.

We Know You A Bit Though    
Despite it being the first meeting between the schools, there are players on both teams who have faced the opposing school before. Logan Carey scored 13 points, pulling down six rebounds and coming away with four steals against Longwood in the Capital Thanksgiving Classic on November 29, 2025 while playing for Maine. Alphonzo Billups III and Lazar Milosevic each played against the Hawks during their careers at VCU and Duquesne, respectively.

Next Up    
Saint Joseph's plays its second consecutive game at Hagan Arena, hosting Lafayette on Saturday, November 7. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.