City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Days after giving up a late lead in a tough home loss to VCU, Saint Joseph’s bounced back by holding Rhode Island at bay in a 72-67 win.

At First…
Saint Joseph’s and Rhode Island played to an even 38-38 tie after the opening 20 minutes, which saw equally hot and cold spurts by both teams. The Rams got off to a hot start thanks to junior Kuran Iverson’s 10 early points, but once the 6-8 wing hit the bench with two fouls, St. Joe’s started to assert itself. Either way, neither team could pull away from the other by more than three points the entire opening 20 minutes.

Turning Point…
St. Joe’s used an 10-0 run to take 48-40 lead five minutes into the second half, but Rhode Island responded to tie it at 52-all with 7:18 remaining. Just when it looked like all the momentum was going to the visitors, the Hawks locked down on the defensive end, holding the Rams to four points over the next four minutes, getting two 3-pointers from Aaron Brown to help them re-open a seven-point advantage that would be good enough to hold on.

Standout Stars…
Saint Joseph’s junior DeAndre Bembry put together yet another stellar all-around performance, finishing with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists. That’s the seventh game this season for the 6-foot-6 wing with double-digit scoring to go along with at least five assists and five rebounds, and third such game in a row. Brown finished with 19 points for his first double-digit outing since Dec. 19 against Illinois State, a span of five games.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
8: The Hawks struggled from the foul line, going 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) on free throws, including missing three 1-and-1 opportunities in the second half alone. It’s the first time all season that St. Joe’s made less than 66.6 percent of its foul shots and still won a game; they were 0-3 in those other games, their only three losses all year.

Up Next…
Saint Joseph’s (11-3, 1-1 A-10) @ George Mason (Jan. 13, 7 PM)
Rhode Island (10-5, 2-0 A-10) @ St. Bonaventure (Jan. 13, 7 PM)