Saint Joseph’s Survives Scare Against Drexel, Opens Big 5 Play With Win

Saint Joseph’s Men’s Basketball survived a scare against the Drexel Dragons to open Big 5 play, winning 76-65 on Hawk Hill on Saturday, Nov. 8.

Sophomore guard and La Salle transfer Deuce Jones II scored 29 points on 7-of-11 shooting along with a 12-of-13 clip from the charity stripe. The Hawks (2-0) led 14-7 early, but a quick Dragons (1-1) run cut the deficit to two points. Jones nailed three-point shots on consecutive possessions to push the lead back to 20-14, but the Hawks ran cold from there, making just one shot in the next four minutes as three pointers from Martin de LaPorterie and Villiam Garcia Adsten helped Drexel tie the game.

Saint Joseph’s fizzled to a 2-of-10 clip over the last seven minutes of the first half, but they managed to keep the deficit at 37-34 as they got into the bonus early and drew fouls.

Hawks Find Their Footing

After halftime, it was the Dragons’ turn to run cold: Drexel made 16 of 36 shots (44.44 percent) in the first 20 minutes, then tailed off to sink just eight of 33 shots (24.24 percent) in the second half.

The Hawks’ offense kept the Dragons back on their heels, pressing starters Victor Panov and Garfield Turner into foul trouble, and converted on 17 of 19 trips to the foul line in the second half. Jones nailed a pair of free throws with 12:28 to play to tie the game, then a Dasear Haskins layup put the Hawks in front. Drexel guard Josh Reed sank a three to make it 51-50, but a layup and a three-pointer from Jones pushed Saint Joseph’s lead to 58-53. The Dragons continued to battle, tying the game at 60, but another Haskins layup gave the Hawks the lead for good. 

Up next, Saint Joseph’s will head to Blacksburg, Va. on Wednesday, Nov. 12 to face Virginia Tech at 7 p.m.; Drexel will face Colgate  on the road at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11.