Saint Joseph's holds off Duquesne

PITTSBURGH - St. Joseph's has had a habit of blowing second-half leads over the last two seasons.

Just when it looked as if that was going to happen again Saturday night, the Hawks held on for a 74-66 victory over Duquesne in an Atlantic Ten game at the Palumbo Center.

St. Joseph's (9-5, 1-1 A-10) built a 10-point lead, 40-30, in the final minute of the first half, but watched Duquesne tie it at 51-51 on Quevyn Winters' three-point field goal with 9:35 left However, Ronald Roberts answered the three with a traditional three-pointer. Then St. Joseph's made it 56-51 on Langston Galloway's two free throws with 8:11 remaining.

The Hawks never trailed again but couldn't breathe easy until Galloway made consecutive jumpers to make it 70-64 with 1:07 left.

"We would have lost this game last year," said Galloway, mindful St. Joseph's has lost a combined 15 games in which it has had a lead in the second half over the last two seasons.

"We might have lost this game earlier this season. But we kept our composure when it looked like they had the momentum. "

St. Joseph's coach Phil Martelli was not overly thrilled with his team's fourth win in five games but did see one encouraging sign.

"Artistically, it wasn't all great, but I like how we kept punching back every time they threw a punch at us," Martelli said.

Galloway scored a game-high 16 points while Carl Jones had 15 points for St. Joseph's. Ronald Roberts had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Chris Wilson added 12 points, and C.J. Aiken blocked seven shots.

St. Joseph's played without junior forward Halil Kanacevic, who returned to his native Montenegro for the funeral of his maternal uncle. It was unclear whether he will return for St. Joseph's next game, Saturday at Virginia Commonwealth.