St. Joe's takes lead - and an A-10 win

This was new terrain for the St. Joseph's Hawks.

They had a 13-point lead over St. Bonaventure midway through the second half Saturday, their biggest lead of the season. That's right - the season.

Their offense hadn't hit that grim dead spot as it had so many times before when it went long, torturous stretches without scoring.

Now came the difficult part - finishing the job. There were uncomfortable murmurs humming through the Hagan Arena crowd as the Bonnies' superb junior, 6-foot-9 Andrew Nicholson, went on a scoring spree and almost single-handedly carved the St. Joe's lead to four points with 6 minutes, 36 seconds remaining.

But in what could be interpreted as a sign of maturation for the young Hawks, they not only got the job done, they refused to be gripped by that here-we-go-again mind-set and cruised past the finish line with a 79-65 Atlantic Ten Conference win.

"I think the maturity is it didn't get to be woe is me," coach Phil Martelli said after the Hawks (8-20, 3-11 A-10) broke a three-game losing streak despite Nicholson's 28 points. "We kept our heads up and went and made the next play. We're not used to playing with leads like that, and that's what was running through my head."

Offensively, it may have been the most crisp performance of a difficult season for St. Joe's. The Hawks shot 61.5 percent, including 11 for 17 from three-point distance. Langston Galloway scored a career-high 27 points as the Hawks' freshmen combined for 53 points. C.J. Aiken had 14 points and six rebounds, showing off a smooth mid- to long-range jumper and displaying assertiveness on the defensive boards. Sophomore Carl Jones had 20 points. St. Joe's had only eight turnovers, two in the second half.

"This was definitely a pickup for us," said Galloway, who shot 5 for 7 from three-point range and had only one turnover in 38 minutes. "It seemed like everybody had it going."

The win took on added significance because the Bonnies (15-12, 7-7) had won five of their previous seven games and Nicholson had been rolling up double-doubles. Early on, it appeared that Nicholson, who went into the game second in scoring in the A-10 at 20.2 points a game, was capable of outscoring St. Joe's by himself. Most of the game, Martelli employed a double team against Nicholson, using Ron Roberts; Aiken; and, in the game's critical moments, Idris Hilliard to guard him.

"Basically, what I wanted was for Ron Roberts and C.J. to realize that this is the biggest handful they'll play all year," Martelli said. "In your 28th game, you can't be talking 'you're a freshman and he's a junior.' He's a wonderful player. He's very, very efficient. There's not a lot of rush to him. We always wanted to get a double team on him, whether it was on the dribble or catch. There were a lot of good players on the floor today, and Nicholson was the best player in the game."

Nicholson scored nine of the 11 points as the Bonnies whittled the Hawks' lead from 54-41 to 56-52. But Jones drained a big three-pointer, Aiken a short jumper, and senior Charoy Bentley and Galloway followed with three-pointers to restore order for St. Joe's. The Hawks' lead eventually swelled to 78-60.

They needed a game like Saturday's to feel good about themselves because they were coming off a dismal, 69-51 loss at Massachusetts, a game in which they scored 15 points in the first half and didn't get their first field goal until eight minutes remained before the break.

With two games to go, St. Joe's is fighting Charlotte for the final spot in the A-10 playoffs. The two will meet Saturday at Charlotte in a game that's likely to decide who keeps on playing and who goes home.

"We really want to get to the A-10 tourney and maybe pull off a couple upsets," Galloway said.