St. Joe’s is A-10 tourney ready after defeating LaSalle, winning their sixth straight

The St. Joe’s Hawks(21-10, 13-5) enter the A-10 tournament the right way after defeating Big 5 and A-10 rival LaSalle(9-22,5-13) 88-76 at Hagan Arena on Saturday to win their sixth consecutive game.

The Hawks, who will be the third seed in the A-10 tournament and have a double bye, will play in the quarterfinals on Friday night in Pittsburgh against a team to be determined.

St. Joe’s will have their highest seed in the A-10 Championship since 2005 and their first double bye since 2018.

It was senior day on Hawk Hill, and the two seniors being honored, Derek Simpson and Justice Ajogbor, both played big roles against the Explorers.

Ajogbor led the Hawks, who had four players in double figures, with a career-high 20 points(8/8 FG), and Simpson added 16 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists.

The Hawks, who led 35-34 at the half, pulled away in second half, where they had their largest lead of 15 points.

After a rocky start, which included parting ways with guard Deuce Jones and starting A-10 play 0-2, few believed the Hawks could win 21 games. Yet, they did, and head coach Steve Donahue, who replaced Billy Lange after he departed for the NBA in September, has done an incredible job this season; he believed that with focus and effort, the team could turn things around.

“​I’ve ​been ​through ​a ​lot ​in ​my ​career,” Donahue said. “​I ​always ​had ​a ​sense ​that, because ​I ​saw ​this ​group ​from ​the ​outside, and ​I ​said, if ​I ​could ​just ​get ​this ​group ​like ​Derek(Simpson) ​touched ​on. ​How ​you ​go ​every ​drill, ​how ​do ​you ​go ​in ​the ​weight ​room, ​how ​you ​come ​in ​and ​out ​of ​games, ​how ​you ​compete, ​every ​single ​aspect. ​If ​we ​could ​just ​raise ​that ​level, ​the ​talent, ​the ​type ​of ​people ​they ​are, ​will ​show ​and ​rise ​to ​the ​top… ​I ​thought ​there ​was ​a ​path, ​and ​they ​obviously ​have ​done ​that.”

The Hawks have momentum, and momentum matters at this stage of the season. You want to play your best basketball in March, and St. Joe’s is playing their best basketball.  The question becomes, will it be enough to beat a VCU or St. Louis? Who knows, but one thing is certain: “The Hawk Will Never Die.”

Notes:

Rob Dockery scored 19 of his game-high 25 points for LaSalle in the first half. The Explorers had four players in double figures.

For St. Joe’s, Jaiden Glover-Toscano had 15 points, and Austin Williford added 13.

Back to Ajogbor, his previous career high was 16 points, set on February 24, 2024 while he was at  Harvard, against Donahue and Penn.

The Hawks beat LaSalle on New Year’s Eve 67-58 at Glaser Arena.