City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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AMHERST, Mass.--St. Joe’s got back to its winning ways Wednesday night on the road, as it used near double-doubles from Isaiah Miles and DeAndre’ Bembry to run away from the Massachusetts Minutemen in the second half and win by a final of 74-57.

At First…
UMass hung tough for the entire first half, matching each SJU punch with a punch of their own. The Hawks would build up an 8-point lead with 7:21 to go in the half but Massachusetts would chip away at that advantage to go into the break trailing just 35-31.

Turning Point…
An 18-5 early second half run had St. Joe’s in business, with a commanding 57-40 advantage after Miles drilled a three-pointer just before the 11-minute mark.

The Minutemen couldn’t get closer than nine points from there, as SJU rode that critical stretch to the comfortable victory.

Shining Stars…
Miles led the way with 20 points and also grabbed 9 boards for St. Joe's. Bembry, who also had 9 rebounds, chipped in 18 points. The senior duo accounted for just over half of the Hawks’ total points on the night.

As for UMass, sophomore Donte Clark led his team with 20 points of his own, while senior Jabarie Hinds had 19 along with four boards.

Noteworthy Numbers…
9: Massachusetts struggled mightily from three-point range, making just two of their 22 attempts for a final clip of 9-percent.

34: Although the scoreboard showed SJU dominating UMass, the two teams were exactly even in one category--rebounds. Both grabbed exactly 34 boards on the night.

Up Next…
St. Joe’s (23-5, 12-3 A10) vs. Saint Louis (Feb. 28, 1:00 p.m.)
Massachusetts (12-15, 5-10 A10) @ St. Bonaventure (Feb. 27, 4:00 p.m.)