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Quick Report: Saint Joseph's 92, Lafayette 63

12/22/2016, 9:00pm EST
By Josh Verlin & Will Slover

Nick Robinson (above) and St. Joe's had no trouble with Lafayette in rolling to a 29-point win Thursday night. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
& Will Slover (@WillSlover31)
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Saint Joseph’s had no trouble with Lafayette in its final non-conference game of the season, running away from the Leopards early on and coasting to a 92-63 win at Hagan Arena on Thursday night.

At First…
St. Joe’s junior guard Shavar Newkirk started this one on fire as he scored the first 10 points for the Hawks, as his squad jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the first six minutes of play. After this game looked like it would be over before it ever really started, Lafayette responded by scoring eight of the next 11 points to cut the SJU lead to eight, by a score of 18-10, with 11:52 to go in the first half.

St. Joe’s responded to Lafayette’s run with one of their own, as SJU went on a 10-2 run over the next 4:19 to extend their lead to 16, 28-12, with 7:33 to go in the first half on a jump shot by freshman forward Nick Robinson.

Turning Point…
Keeping the Leopards at bay for the remainder of the half, St. Joe’s took a 45-29 lead into the half, as Newkirk finished with 17 points in the first frame. Out of halftime, SJU continued to keep Lafayette out of reach, as their lead remained at 16 with 13:19 left in the contest. After keeping the visiting Leopards at length, but never putting them away, the Hawks put together an 18-5 run over the next 5:18 to put Lafayette away for good as they jumped ahead by 29 and never looked back.

Standout Stars…
Newkirk continued his stellar junior season, scoring a game-high 24 points to come within four of his career high. He was an offensive force for SJU in the first half, as he finished the frame with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including going 3-of-5 from deep, and didn’t slow down at all out of the break. The Cardinal Hayes (N.Y.) product has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season, upping his scoring average from 8.0 ppg as a sophomore to 21.2 ppg as a junior, which has him in the top five in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Sophomore Lamarr Kimble added 22 for the Hawks.

Germantown Academy product Nick Lindner led Lafayette with 14 points, as the senior guard was one of just two Leopards players in double figures along with junior forward Matt Klinewski (10).

Noteworthy Numbers…
36: A normally shot-happy Lafayette squad took a season-high three dozen attempts from 3-point range, the third time this season the Leopards have taken more than 30 long-range attempts this season but first since 33 attempts against NJIT on Nov. 17.

46: Kimble and Newkirk combined to score 40-plus points for the fourth time all season, tying their mark for collective points this year as they dropped 46 against Lafayette.

Up Next…
Saint Joseph’s (6-5) vs. George Washington (8-5), Fri., Dec. 30, 7:00 PM
Lafayette (4-7) vs. Colgate (2-11), Fri., Dec. 30, 7:00 PM

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