St. Joseph’s handles Temple, 68-49, behind Jordan Hall’s 26 points and strong board work
Hall has scored 59 points in his last two games - both Hawks wins over Big 5 rivals.
St. Joseph’s took its second Big 5 win game of the season, defeating the Owls, 68-49.
Saturday, at Hagan Arena, marked the 163rd matchup between the Hawks and Owls, and St. Joe’s Jordan Hall had his fingerprints all over it. The sophomore star had 26 points on 53% shooting. Hall is now averaging 25 points against Big 5 opponents. The rebounding game was another factor in the win, with everyone making their mark on the stat sheet.
The stars showed up
Hall has found his groove. After a 33-point performance against Penn on Wednesday, Hall followed up with the 26 points on Saturday, raining in threes left and right.
Shooting percentage has been an issue this season for Hall. However, this recent homestand has seen Hall take smarter shots. He has made 53% of his shots in the last two games. And when the shot isn’t there, Hall will pass it, recording 5 assists on Saturday.
Taylor Funk’s last previous three games saw him shoot only 20% from three. Saturday was a different story. Funk got his game going with two three-pointers from NBA range. The shots extended the Hawks’ early lead to 19-6. The student section was fired up.
Big 5 games are scrappy
Both defenses worked tirelessly, resulting in a low- scoring game. The Hawks limited the Owls to the lowest scoring total of any opponent this season.
“[The Owls] are built on a fistfight mentality. We knew that we needed to bring a level of brawl mentality to this game,” Hawks head coach Billy Lange said.
The Hawks had excellent perimeter defense. The Owls’ first three-pointer came with under 15 minutes left in
the second half. Temple finished the game 2-for-20 from three.
The rebounding game swayed heavily in favor of the Hawks, as they outrebounded the Owls, 48-38. Funk led the team with 13 boards, which helped hold off any momentum the Owls might have gained.
“To be able to keep them relatively off the glass at 10 offensive rebounds with a top rebounding team, I think it’s a good step for us in the right direction,” Lange added.
Early in the second half, Temple started to grab some momentum. But after back- to- back offensive rebounds from Erik Reynolds and Taylor Funk, the Hawks got their swagger back with a two-handed jam by Ejike Obinna.
The Hawks didn’t let up for the rest of the game by coming up with strong rebounds to facilitate the offense and coming away with a statement win.
Next for the Hawks, they will travel to Peoria Ill., to play Bradley on Wednesday.