Saint Joseph’s Runs Away From Davidson in Second Half of A-10 Quarterfinals

PITTSBURGH — The Saint Joseph’s program was stuck between a rock and a hard place back in early September when former head coach Billy Lange decided to leave the program for a role within the New York Knicks front office after back-to-back 20-win seasons.

With the roster already in place, the Hawks just needed somebody to step up and coach them. Little did they know they hired just the right guy months prior when they added Steve Donahue to the staff as an associate head coach.

Coach of the Year

“The program was in pretty good shape like they’ve been very good for two years and we brought back four of those players, which is unusual at this time,” Donahue said about the situation that he stepped into. “More than anything, I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

Following Lange’s departure, the university decided to make Donahue the program’s new head coach. The decision paid off barely six months later as Donahue led Saint Joseph’s to its third-consecutive Atlantic-10 semifinal appearance, winning the Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year Award in doing so.

“If there is ever a head coach of the year award that goes to the staff, it’s this staff,” Donahue said. “I just came in. They already had everything in place and for me to get credit for this is way overstated: they recruited those kids, they got the infrastructure set up, they won 20 games back-to-back years, and here comes a new coach that just trued to make it better.”

“I thought I helped in that matter, but that was a staff award. That’s not being humble, that’s being factual,” Donahue added.

Holding the No. 3 seed in the conference and a double bye, the Hawks faced off against Davidson on Friday, March 13. The two teams split the season series, with Saint Joseph’s coming up victorious in North Carolina just ten days prior.

Back-and-Forth Start

Despite Saint Joseph’s higher seed, the gap between the two programs was not large at all. That showed through the first 24 minutes of the game, with the Hawks leading 37-36 at the first media timeout of the second half. From there, they used a 32-12 run to pull away from the Wildcats, going on to close out the 70-58 quarterfinal victory.

Saint Joseph’s jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead and set the tone in the process as they got to the line and made four-of-five free throws during the opening joust. The Hawks used their ability to get to the rim and to the free throw line to their advantage as they went 22-of-26 from the charity stripe in the win.

The Hawks extended their lead out to 16-9 after the first eight minutes, mainly due to the Wildcats’ inability to score during a four minute drought. That changed when Roberts Blums hit his first three of the night, starting an 11-2 run capped with another Blums three that put his team ahead 20-18.

After Justice Ajogbor slammed home a dunk to tie the game up for Saint Joseph’s, the Hawks reclaimed the lead and then some as the Wildcats went scoreless for another five-plus minute span. During that time, the Hawks opened up an 8-0 run that put them ahead 28-22.

Saint Joseph’s carried a small 33-29 lead into the break as Davidson managed to endure every blow that was thrown in the first half. Over the course of the first four minutes of the second half, it looked like the Wildcats would stick with the Hawks throughout to set up a dramatic finish.

Hawks Pull Ahead

That was not the case, though, as Saint Joseph’s opened up an initial 10-0 run. That made Davidson head coach Matt McKillop come undone, earning a warning following a timeout as he voiced his opinions to the officials. The Hawks’ run ballooned into a 32-12 onslaught that stretched deep into the second half.

By the time that the scoring barrage was over, the Hawks led 69-48 with just over three minutes left, not enough time for the Wildcats to even think about mounting a comeback.

“I think with everything that went on this season, we just always trusted ourselves and trusted the staff,” Ajogbor said. “It didn’t matter who was left or who was in the locker room, we knew that we had what it took and to kind of vindicate ourselves [tonight] is an awesome feeling but the goal isn’t just to get to the semifinals again so we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

Saint Joseph’s has been bounced out of the Atlantic-10 Tournament in the semifinal round in each of the past two seasons but will have a chance to make it to the title game on Saturday when the Hawks take on No. 2 VCU on Saturday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena.