St. Joseph’s falls to 0-8 in Atlantic 10 Conference play with a 79-56 loss to Richmond

The Hawks turned the ball over 11 times in trailing by nine points at halftime, then fell victim in the second half to hot shooting by the Spiders.

St. Joseph's Taylor Funk is surrounded by Richmond's Blake Francis (1), Nathan Cayo and Grant Golden (33) during the second half at the Hagan Arena.Read moreSTEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

by Joe Juliano

Published Jan. 26, 2021, 8:57 p.m. ET

The story of St. Joseph’s game against Richmond on Tuesday night could be told in a four-minute stretch of the first half when the Hawks just couldn’t hold on to the basketball.

The Hawks committed six turnovers on eight possessions during that time, a drought which fueled an 11-0 run for the Spiders that gave them a lead they would never relinquish in a 79-56 Atlantic 10 Conference victory at Hagan Arena.

The Hawks (1-13, 0-8 A-10) had 11 turnovers in the first half and finished with 18, leading to 22 points by the Spiders (10-4, 4-2). The visitors, who had 23 assists on 31 baskets, shot 8 of 11 from beyond the arc in the first half, and 15 of 18 from inside the arc in the second.

The lead changed hands seven times in the opening 6 ½ minutes and the Hawks trailed by only 17-15 when the turnovers started. Nine of the Spiders’ next 11 points came off Hawks miscues for a 28-15 lead with 7:16 left.

“It’s chinning a basketball when you’ve already got the ball in the paint,” St. Joe’s coach Billy Lange said. “It’s traveling. It’s catching a ball with two hands. It’s coming to a pivot and delivering a good pass. It’s all of those things.

“We’ll get a little better, but I thought those turnovers literally were the difference in the game. It wasn’t 23 points, but it was the difference in my opinion in the way the game shaped up.”

Still, the Hawks shot 45.8% in the first half and trailed by only nine, 40-31, at the half. They appeared to have a defensive stop on the first possession of the second half but whiffed on the rebound, and the Spiders’ Blake Francis converted a conventional three-point play to make it a 12-point advantage. Richmond led by double digits the rest of the night.

Jordan Hall led the Hawks with 17 points. Taylor Funk, the team’s leading scorer, added 10 but took only three shots in the second half and did not score. St. Joseph’s played without sophomore guard Jack Forrest, who suffered a leg injury in Saturday’s loss to George Mason and is likely to miss the rest of the season, Lange said.

Tyler Burton scored 25 points to lead the Spiders, who are coached by Archbishop Ryan graduate Chris Mooney.