St. Joe’s ‘Big 3’ leads team to win over Richmond

St. Joe’s was looking to keep up their winning ways when they hosted A-10 foe, the Richmond Spiders, on Saturday; the Hawks pretty much led from start to finish and had their largest lead of 23 points in the second half, defeating Richmond 78-62.

St Joe’s(17-10, 8-6) have now won two straight and four out of their last five, while Richmond’s(10-17, 5-10) two-game winning streak comes to an end.

With Celtics president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, and other scouts in the building, St. Joe’s was led by their “Big 3” of Erik Reynolds II, who scored 25 points, including a career-high seven threes. Rasheer Fleming added 23 points(4/8 3-PT FG) and six rebounds, and Zayvier Brown chipped in with 15 points and seven assists. St Joe’s finished the game with 15 threes.

Reynolds, Fleming, and Brown scored 63 of the team’s 78 points. 

Offensively, the Hawks moved the ball beautifully, as they had 20 assists on their 28 made baskets.

According to Reynolds, the ball movement and unselfish play are what they do at St. Joe’s.

“Just ​our ​brand ​of ​basketball,” Reynolds said. “​That’s ​​what ​we ​do ​best. ​The ​more ​we ​keep ​moving ​it ​from ​side ​to ​side , the ​more ​we ​get ​to ​create ​for ​each ​other ​, and ​it’s ​fun ​to ​play ​within, and I ​feel ​like ​it’s ​also ​fun ​to ​watch.”

Back to Stevens and the scouts, Fleming says he was unbothered by it all.

“I ​don’t ​think ​too ​much ​about ​it,” he said. ​”But ​it’s ​good ​for ​them ​to ​come ​out ​and ​like ​see ​my ​teammates ​and ​myself ​who ​just ​do ​what ​we ​doing, ​having ​fun ​on ​the ​court.

Fleming believes he played well in front of Stevens and other scouts.

“I ​think ​I ​ran ​the ​floor ​well,” he said. “​I ​had ​some ​good ​shots ​that ​were ​pass ​to ​me ​by ​my ​teammate, also ​finished ​some ​plays… I ​think ​I ​played ​pretty ​good.”

Fleming did play well, and so did Reynolds II and Brown, which should have impressed all in attendance, but most importantly for the team, St. Joe’s got the win.

The Hawks get back at it on Wednesday night when they host St. Bonaventure.

Notes:

Before the game, Reynolds was honored for going over 2,000 career points. The senior guard is now 28 points away from becoming the university’s all-team leading scorer(Jameer Nelson).

Dusan Neskovic led Richmond with 14 points.