Dear March: Never change.
This was one heck of a basketball game. In a contest that included a plethora of lead changes, St. Joseph’s prevailed after a game-tying dunk by Cincinnati’s Octavius Ellis was waved off, just milliseconds away from being good. Isaiah Miles hit a clutch three-pointer with 11 seconds left to give the Hawks the lead, setting up an epic conclusion to this game.
If there’s one thing we learned, it is this: the Hawk will never die.
This contest saw stellar performances from Miles (19 points, 7 rebounds), Aaron Brown (13 points) and A-10 POY DeAndre’ Bembry (25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists). The Hawks led by as many as 12 in the second half, but Cincy battled back behind 26 points from Jacob Evans. All in all, it was an incredibly hard-fought basketball game that ended in elation for Phil Martelli and Co.
In the postgame presser, Cincinnati head coach Mick Cronin acknowledged the SJU momentum in this game and overall tournament.
“[St. Joe’s] is one of the hottest teams in the country, and we had an opportunity to beat them,” he said. The Hawks have now won four in-a-row, dating back to the beginning of the NCAA tournament, and the hope is that the streak doesn’t stop soon.
SJU will have its hands full with Oregon on Sunday. The #1 seed Ducks demolished their first round opponent Holy Cross and will try to continue their run to the Final Four in Spokane. We’ll have a full game preview on Sunday, but for now Hawks fans, enjoy this amazing win.
March Madness, thank you for this one. Let’s keep it rolling.
