St. Joe’s soars past George Mason in Philly

Coming into Wednesday night’s showdown between St. Joe’s and George Mason. the two teams were tied for the fourth spot in the A-10, so the winner would have sole possession of the fourth seed in the conference, which means a double-bye in the A-10 Tournament.

The stakes were high, and the Hawks played like it. St. Joes, who led by as many as 25 points, dominated and routed George Mason 81-63 at Hagan Arena.

With the win, St Joe’s (18-10, 10-5), who has won three straight, is now tied for third in the A-10 with Dayton, while George Mason (21-7, 9-6), who dropped its fourth game in a row, falls to fifth in the conference.

In maybe their best half of the season, the Hawks dominated the first half on Wednesday night. They shot 52% from the field, including 40% (8/20) from deep, and they held George Mason to 30% shooting.

Also, they forced seven turnovers and committed none. The Hawks led 44-25 at the break, and the game was essentially over from there.

After the win, St. Joe’s head coach Steve Donahue discussed the great first half from the Hawks.

According to Donahue, it was the best half of basketball for his team this season.

“For ​sure, ​it ​was,” Donahue said. “​I ​think, ​in ​my ​vision, ​my ​view ​is ​that ​we ​really ​just ​guard. ​We’ve ​done ​that ​pretty ​consistent… ​What ​I ​hope ​to ​do ​and ​what ​you ​saw ​in ​the ​first ​half ​is ​provide ​the ​offense ​from ​that ​defense.”

Derek Simpson had a game-high 23 points along with eight assists and three steals, and Jaiden Glover-Toscano added 21. Dasear Haskins and Khaafiq Myers chipped in with 12 points apiece. Myers, who played a great floor game, also added six rebounds and six assists with no turnovers.

The Hawks played fast all night long, scoring 22 fast-break points; they did all that while committing only three turnovers, and Simpson believes that if they can score like they did tonight, St. Joe’s can be unstoppable.

“We ​can ​be ​unstoppable,” Simpson said. “Honestly, ​​I ​think ​the ​biggest ​part ​with ​us ​is ​being ​on ​the ​same ​page. ​I ​think ​we’ve ​had ​a ​lot ​of ​lapses ​earlier ​on ​in ​the ​year ​where ​we ​just ​weren’t ​on ​the ​same ​page, ​and ​that ​just ​comes ​with ​the ​preparation ​and ​the ​practice ​time ​that ​we’ve ​had ​and ​put ​together ​and ​the ​connections ​we’ve ​built ​to ​know ​when ​something ​said ​we ​all ​can ​relate ​it ​to ​each ​other ​and ​stuff ​like ​that, and ​that’s ​kind ​of ​what ​we’ve ​been ​doing ​the ​past ​couple ​weeks, ​is ​just ​being ​able ​to ​be ​on ​the ​same ​page ​with ​everything.”

St. Joe’s could be peaking at the right time with the A-10 Tournament close. After that bad home loss to Fordham, the Hawks are playing good, sound basketball, and that’s a credit to Donahue for keeping this team together.

What’s Next?

The Hawks head on the road to battle Rhode Island on Saturday, while George Mason heads home to host St. Bonaventure, which is also on Saturday.

St. Joe’s and George Mason split their season-series as the Patriots defeated the Hawks 60-52 earlier this month.

Eagles Night

It was Eagles Night on “Hawk Hill” as St. Joe’s celebrated the Philadelphia Eagles—the Eagles mascot Swoop was in the house along with Eagles legend Brandon Graham.