St. Joseph’s drops 15-point lead in winnable matchup with Fordham

St. Joseph led Fordham by 15 points on Tuesday night at Hagan Arena. After a crushing loss to George Mason three days earlier, the Hawks were on the verge of forcing a blowout against a team that had won just three Atlantic 10 games entering the contest.

Then the Rams began mounting a comeback and the Hawks had no chance to stop it. After knocking down 50% of its shots in the first half, St. Joe’s went mute as it made 7 of 24 shots (29.17%) in the second. Guard Austin Williford, who finished with a career-high 19 points, scoring 17 in the first 20 minutes, did not get another bucket until four minutes remained in the game.

Guard Jaiden Glover-Toscano scored all of his 10 points in the first half. The stagnant offense resulted in a 68-64 loss.

» READ MORE: St. Joseph’s is unable to upset George Mason despite pushing the game to the brink

“Obviously the second half was not one of our better efforts offensively,” coach Steve Donahue said. “I thought we competed at a high level. Guarding was very physical, but we did not do a good job handling that in the second half, and allowed their physicality to just take us out of our rhythm.”

However, St. Joe’s (15-10, 7-5 A-10), which is now riding a two-game skid, is still in contention for a coveted top-four seed to earn a double bye in the conference tournament next month.

St. Joe’s attacked Fordham’s zone with ease for the first 20 minutes of play. Glover-Toscano scored 10 points in the first 14 minutes.

Then Williford, who has become a regular in the starting lineup, made a layup and nailed three consecutive three-pointers. His play made up for scoring leader Derek Simpson not scoring a bucket in the first half.

“I think he’s got a great future ahead of him,” Donahue said. “Even he’ll say the second half wasn’t his best, it wasn’t our best, and it got us tonight.”

St. Joe’s success ended after Fordham (13-12, 4-8) switched up its defenses in the second half. The Rams made it difficult for the Hawks to run their offense. They ended the second half with nearly as many turnovers (six) as field goals (seven).

“That’s a sign we’re not in rhythm or there’s no synergy in the offense.” Donahue said. “When you take one with 10 or 12 [seconds] left there, you’re kind of open. We’ve done that to ourselves a few times this year. My job is to get us out of this.”

St. Joe’s dropped its second straight game in a similar fashion. The Hawks allowed George Mason to snag a win after holding a second half lead on Saturday. In that loss, they shot 29.03%, despite grabbing 20 offensive rebounds.

After winning seven of eight before Saturday’s loss, St. Joe’s looked poised to earn a fourth-place finish, which is the final spot for a double bye in the A-10 tournament.

Now, Davidson, Duquesne, and Dayton all trail St. Joe’s by a game in the standings. The Flyers and Wildcats face another on Sunday, while Duquesne plays on Saturday. There’s a chance there could be a three-way tie for fourth place by the end of this weekend.

With six games remaining, Donahue is looking to get St. Joe’s back to how his team was playing in January.

“This is A to B. This is the stuff we talked about. Now we’ve got to live it,” Donahue said. “We were uncharacteristic [on Tuesday] in some ways. In particular, on the offensive end. For the next eight days, you have to do a great job.”

The Hawks will visit St. Bonaventure (14-10, 3-8) on Feb. 18 (7 p.m., ESPN+).