SPORTS
17
11 20 13
The Hawk
Creighton downs St. Joe’s
Frank Flores ’15
C
Assistant Sports Editor
oming off of a solid win against a reeling Marist team, the Saint Joseph’s University men’s basketball team could not win their third game in a row against the Creighton Bluejays, losing 83-79 on Nov. 16 at Hagan Arena. The loss dropped the Hawks’ record to 2-1 for the second consecutive season. The Hawks got out to a fast start, going up by 12 points in the first half, largely due to a 6-13 team effort from behind the arc and 9-10 shooting from the free throw line in the first half. The team was paced by nine points apiece in the first half from Langston Galloway, ’14, Ronald Roberts Jr., ’14, and Chris Wilson, ’15, and took a 45-40 lead into halftime. Tough individual defensive efforts from Roberts, redshirt senior Halil Kanacevic, ’13, and DeAndre Bembry, ’17, combined with defensive help from teammates allowed the Hawks to hold Naismith College Player of the Year candidate Doug McDermott to eight points on 2-5 shooting in the first half. McDermott’s struggles may also be attributed to the rambunctious student section, which was deafening from start to finish. McDermott gave high praise to the atmosphere in Hagan Arena after the game. “This is the toughest place to play we’ve ever played at,” McDermott said.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team ever leading by more than seven points and the hot shooting from deep continuing for each team. Bembry rose to the occasion and showed no freshman jitters, scoring 14 points in the second half, including a few big three pointers when the Hawks needed them. “He is what we thought he’d [be]. That’s not a game for an 18-year-old,” Martelli said. “He doesn’t think and play like an 18-year-old.” Wilson also had a monstrous game from behind the arc hitting 6-11 shots overall for 18 points, including going 3-5 in the second half. The game came down to the final few possessions, with each team trying desperately to put the other one away. With about 30 seconds left, Galloway took a pull-up jumper that just missed. Luckily, Roberts was there for the rebound but got fouled as he put up a shot. Roberts calmly hit both free throws and gave Creighton the ball with 27.5 seconds left. With the clock winding down, the Hawks had a miscommunication on defense and McDermott was left wide open for a three pointer. Kanacevic tried to rush out to contest, but ended up fouling McDermott in the process. McDermott hit the shot and the free throw which put the Hawks down three points with 4.7 seconds left. The Hawks turned the ball over on an inbound play, and Creighton went on to hit free throws to win by a final score of 83-79. The high point man for the Hawks was Bembry, who
Photos by Weiyi (Dawn) Cai, ’15
finished with 20 points on 8-14 shooting, including 4-8 from three. It was a hard fight and tough loss for the Hawks as they had the game slip away from them in the final few seconds over one defensive miscue. “We ended up playing as a team,” Bembry said. “It came down to the last shot and I messed up on an assignment, or a switch. It just came down to the last shot and we didn’t make it.” The Hawks look to rebound from this tough loss on Nov. 28 at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. as they take on Louisiana State University.
SPORTS BRIEFS DeAndre Bembry, ’17, was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for averaging 14 points, Men’s 3.5 rebounds, and three assists. The Hawks also signed four players to National Letters of Intent: James Demery, Markell Lodge, BasketbalL Shavar Newkirk, and Obi Romeo will all be part of the men’s basketball program starting next season.
Women’s basketball fought back from a 16-point deficit and were able to pull WOMen’s the win against Wichita State, 81-73 on Nov. 15. Ciara Andrews, ’16, made a layup with 1.5 seconds left BasketbalL off to push the game to overtime. Sarah Fairbanks, ’16, led the team in scoring with 18 points, including 6-10 from the free throw line. Natasha Cloud, ’15, also had a solid game with 15 points.
Men’s Crosscountry
Aaron Leskow, ’14, was named to the Atlantic 10 men’s cross-country AllAcademic Team. Leskow also took 31st at the Mid-Atlantic Regionals with a time of 30:58. The men’s team took 11th
overall with a time of 2:38:26 and 301 points. Michael Rankin, ’14, John Mascioli, ’17, and Logan Mohn, ’15, all finished 65th, 66th, and 67th for St. Joe’s, respectively.