City of Basketball Love

Daniel Hughes (@dan1el_sun)
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Saint Joseph’s dropped its sixth game of the season at home, as Massachusetts won its second game against the Hawks this year, 87-76.

At First…

UMass opened up the game hot, shooting 5-for-6 from behind the arc in the first five minutes, on its way to a 10-point lead. Saint Joseph’s climbed back, cutting the lead to three on a Charlie Brown three with just over 11 minutes to go in the half, but the Minutemen went on a 7-0 run to make it a double-digit game again. With a minute and a half left in the first, Brown hit another three to make the lead three once more, but UMass once again went on a 7-0 run. They finished the first half up 43-35.

Turning Point…

The Minutemen held onto a sizable lead until just under 11 minutes to play, when the Hawks went on a 10-0 run to tie the game. However, after two quick steals, UMass was able to score five points in 17 seconds to quickly regain the lead and kill St. Joe’s momentum. The Hawks never recovered. Zach Lewis hit a turnaround jumper with 4:30 left to make the lead 12, and sealed the game with an and-one two and a half minutes later.

Sophomore guard Lamarr Kimble left the game with six minutes in the second half and was seen on the bench in crutches with a minute left in the game.

Standout Stars…

Junior guard Donte Clark scored a team high 24 points in the win. He also helped the Minutemen get out to an early lead, hitting four 3-pointers in the first five minutes. Clark finished the game shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 8-for-10 from the foul line.

Freshman Charlie Brown continued his impressive run of games for the Hawks, scoring 15 points on 4-for-12 shooting from the field in the loss. Over the last seven games, the 6-7 wing has averaged 16.4 points per game.

Noteworthy Numbers…

40.7: St. Joe’s field-goal percentage after going 24-for-58 from the floor. Last time at UMass, the Hawks shot 32.2 percent, their worst shooting percentage of the season.

8: Number of points for Javon Baumann off the bench, a season high. The 6-8 forward, one of the team's three captains, made all three of his attempts from the floor.

Up Next…

Saint Joseph’s (10-14, 3-9 Atlantic 10) at VCU (19-5, 9-2 A-10) Tuesday, February 14

UMass (13-12, 3-9 A-10) at Duquesne (9-15, 2-9 A-10) Wednesday, February 15