In a great Atlantic 10 matchup between the St. Joseph’s Hawks and the UMass Minutemen, the game came down to the wire with St. Joes prevailing.
The Hawks led by as many as 17 points at halftime but the 21st ranked UMass Minutemen fought back in the second half outscoring them 43-32.
St. Joseph’s got a great game from their frontcourt. Halil Kanacevic and Ronald Roberts Jr. played big when their guards couldn’t perform at their best. Kanacevic led the Hawks in scoring with 18 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out five assists. His frontcourt mate, Roberts Jr. scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Roberts down the stretch had huge rebounds and big blocks at the rim when UMass was coming back.
For UMass, senior guard Chaz Williams got them back in the game with his rebounding and pushing the pace when needed. Williams finished with 16 points and 10 assists but couldn’t knock down some key free throws at the end of the game.
Also the Minutemen got a great game from sophomore guard Derrick Gordon. Gordon was nothing short of excellent tonight as he scored 21 points shooting 10 of 13 from the field.
An interesting stat from tonight’s game was that St. Joseph’s went to the line 40 times compared to UMass’ 20 times. St. Joes would shoot 25 of 40 from the line but missing 15 free throws kept the Minutemen in the game. With the Hawks winning tonight, they are now 15-6 and 5-2 in the Atlantic 10. They now have sole possession of fourth place in the conference.
The road does not get easier for St. Joseph’s as on Wednesday, February 5th, they welcome 19th ranked St. Louis to Hagan Arena. If they can beat the Billikens, then in my opinion the Hawks are a lock for a NCAA tournament bid.
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