La Salle comes back to beat St. Joseph’s, 49-48

Perhaps St. Joseph’s didn’t remember blowing a 10-point, second-half lead to La Salle on Martin Luther King Day at Hagan Area.

It was the same story on Wednesday night, this time at Tom Gola Arena, as La Salle defeated St. Joe’s, 49-48, in a Big 5 rivalry clash.

Despite leading for 89.3% of the game and holding a 12-point second-half advantage, St. Joe’s (10-18, 4-13 Atlantic 10) couldn’t hold on. La Salle (9-18, 4-13) outscored the Hawks by 25-12 in the second half, despite shooting just 21.4% from three for the game.

“La Salle/St.Joe’s games are rarely aesthetically pleasing except for the competitor,” said St. Joe’s head coach Billy Lange. “Give La Salle credit, because they kept hanging in despite not shooting the ball well, either.”

» READ MORE: La Salle men’s basketball team rallies in second half to stun Dayton, 62-60

“Overall, great team effort,” said La Salle head coach Ashley Howard. “I’m just proud of our guys that they had the discipline to completely commit to defending tonight.”

Khalil Brantley led La Salle with 11 points, while Clifton Moore added a season-high seven blocks.

Ejike Obinna led St. Joe’s with 14 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.

St. Joe’s opened the game on a 12-3 run. Josh Nickelberry, who came off the bench for the second straight game for La Salle, stopped the bleeding momentarily with back-to-back three pointers.

But the Hawks responded with an 8-0 run of their own, taking a 12-point lead.

The Hawks entered Wednesday shooting 33.6% from deep, good for ninth in the conference. On Wednesday night, they made four of their first eight attempts, a large reason why St. Joe’s was able to build its lead from the tip.

On the other side, the Explorers made just three of their first 11 attempts, with big man Moore missing his first three three-point attempts, two of which were wide open.

St. Joe’s cooled off the rest of the first half, finishing at 38.5%. La Salle’s luck from deep did not improve, heading into the locker room at 28.6%.

St. Joe’s led, 36-24, at the half.

“I thought our guys really did a good job of keeping their composure when we didn’t see the ball get through the net,” said Howard.

The Explorers went on an 11-minute, 16-4 run to tie the ballgame, thanks largely to a four-minute St. Joe’s scoring drought. Nickelberry’s mid-range jumper with 3:16 to play tied the score.

Erik Reynolds III’s three-pointer with 2:23 to play gave St. Joe’s the advantage once again. La Salle’s Brantley answered with a three of his own, tying the game. A free throw from Moore gave the Explorers the lead. They escaped with the win as the Hawks were unable to score in their final possession.

“We got momentum; we got stop after stop after stop,” said Howard. “And then it became a contagious energy.”

The Explorers entered the contest second to last in turnover margin in the conference. The only team worse? St. Joe’s.

Yet the Hawks played a largely mistake-free game, committing only 11 turnovers; conversely, La Salle had 10 turnovers. Nearly every time La Salle would have an opportunity to cut into the Hawks’ lead or take the advantage, a giveaway would seem to occur.

But it wouldn’t matter in the end.

La Salle and St. Joe’s both have one remaining regular-season game on Saturday. The Hawks return home to play Rhode Island, while the Explorers travel to Duquesne.

“Hopefully we can use [the win] as momentum to keep getting better as we head to the A-10 tournament,” said Howard.

There is a chance that both teams will meet again next Wednesday in the A-10 tournament in Washington. The matchup would be in the game pitting the 12th against the 13th seed.