Saturday’s Big 5 Classic had some key moments. Here are the highlights of a few of them.
Villanova and Penn battled for city supremacy, a last-second basket secured third place for St. Joe's, and La Salle's big day in the third annual battle to be crowned the city's best.
For the first two years of the Big 5 Classic, it’s been St. Joseph’s who has come away with a first-place finish. The third edition of the tripleheader inside the Xfinity Mobile Arena was the first time the Hawks weren’t lifting a banner to end the event.
Instead, Villanova and Penn battled for city supremacy, with the Wildcats coming out on top, 90-63. Behind first-year head coach Kevin Willard, Villanova earned its first Big 5 championship since the 2022-23 season.
St. Joe’s would finish third, winning in a buzzer-beater against Temple, while La Salle defeated Drexel in the fifth-place game.
These were the biggest moments across all three matchups.
Game one: La Salle 69, Drexel 64
Moment one: The Dragons (4-6) took on the Explorers (4-6) to kick off the afternoon. La Salle looked impressive from the opening tip. Explorers dazzled the crowd as forward Josiah Harris scored eight of the team’s first 10 points.
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La Salle was tied 10 minutes before halftime, and looking to stifle a Drexel surge. It did that and then some, Jaedon Marshall kicked started a pummeling as he contorted for an and-one layup and knocked down the ensuing free throw.
On the next possession he drilled a three, pushing the lead to five. The Explorers would pile on 20 more points in the final 10 minutes. Drexel’s response? A lone free-throw to go into halftime down, 41-22.
Moment two: While Drexel kept the door cracked the rest of the way, Harris officially slammed it shut with 2 minutes remaining. Up by seven, guard Eric Acker bricked a three pointer, but Harris flew in for the offensive rebound.
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Harris would finish with a career-high 21 points. It was the most he’s scored since his freshman year at St. Francis Brooklyn on Feb. 9, 2023.
Game 2: St. Joseph’s 70, Temple 69
Moment one: Temple (4-5) went into halftime with its backs against the wall, down by eight. The Owls had endured a 12-0 run from the Hawks (5-3) midway through the first half, where they went scoreless for two minutes.
However, they began to chip away in the second half.
Guard Derrian Ford kickstarted it with a three, and then an avalanche ensued after a 12-0 run gave Temple the lead to delight the Owls fans on hand. Ford finished with 27 points.
Moment two: Temple held a five point lead with 2 minutes left. All it needed was its defense to hold for the Owls to walk away with their fifth win of the season. Simple.
It wasn’t.
Guard Deuce Jones II, who had committed a travel just moments prior put himself in position to be the hero. He cut the deficit to three with a layup that the Owls countered with one of their own.
Then it became the Deuce Jones show.
He knocked down a three pointer and then converted a circus layup while being guarded by Temple guard Aiden Tobiason. Somehow, it went in to tie that game and then with 7 seconds left, Jones, the La Salle transfer had a chance to end it.
Draped by Ayuba Bryant and guard Jordan Mason, Jones let it fly, and his shot splashed as the buzzer sounded. Temple’s hopes at winning were dashed in an instant as Jones’ three gave the Hawks a 70-69 win as they flocked to Jones on the court to celebrate.
“It felt good as soon as it left my hand,” Jones said. “I knew it was good.”
Game 3: Villanova 90, Penn 63
Moment one: Perhaps the scoreline doesn’t accurately reflect just how much these two teams traded blows. Penn (5-4) would find Villanova (7-1) taking an eight point lead midway into the game but Penn stormed back to tie the game at 27.
The Quakers had just one more field goal for the rest of the half. Villanova poured on 17 in the meantime, doing whatever it wanted against Penn’s defense.
Then guard Devin Askew shut the door right before halftime. He intercepted a pass from forward Ethan Roberts and ran the length of the court for a layup. Askew did the same thing seconds later, this time finding guard Malachi Palmer for a transition layup.
The miscues from the Quakers where enough for Villanova to collect the Big 5 title for the 30th time in program history.
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