In the surprise of the night, maybe this Atlantic Ten season, Saint Joseph’s rallied from a nineteen point halftime deficit to stun Davidson. Cameron Brown canned a shot with .7 second remaining to give the Hawks the 73-72 victory at Hagan Arena on Tuesday evening.
Possessions: 67
Offensive efficiency: Saint Joseph’s 109 Davidson 107
What Davidson did well…Get out to a fast start. Bob McKillop’s Wildcats scored 19 of the game’s first 21 points. At intermission the lead, as previously noted, had Davidson in the driver’s. The final twenty minutes? Another story.
What Saint Joseph’s did well…Not fold. You are winless in conference play, facing a team playing well of late, down 19 at the half. Maybe the Hawk WILL never die. To their credit Billy Lange’s group stayed with it and gradually fought their way back.
Leading scorers:
Saint Joseph’s- Brown 24 points. Davidson- Kellan Grady 20
Records: Davidson 13-12 (7-6 A10), Saint Joseph’s 5-21 (1-12 A10)
A tale of two halves, especially beyond the arc. First half Davidson shot 8 of 13 while Saint Joseph’s was zero of 8 from three. Second half, the complete opposite. The Hawks went 9 of 15 (sixty percent) while the visiting Wildcats missed all seven attempts from downtown.
Amazing that Saint Joseph’s pulled off the upset minus the services of their high scoring go to guy Ryan Daly- out with a badly sprained ankle. Daly uses 32 percent of his team’s possessions, good for 24th nationally.
Both teams had low turnover rates- Saint Joseph’s at 13 percent and Davidson 15.
Jon Axel Gudmundsson had a quiet six points. The 6’5″ Wildcat senior did pull down a game high 11 rebounds. Senior Tolliver Freeman scored 16 while pulling down 4 boards and handing out 4 assists for the Hawks. Rahmir Moore, like Borwn a feshman, added 14 for Saint Joseph;s.
Saint Joseph’s found the long range the second half. Overall they shot the ball well with a 17 of 30 showing (57 percent) inside the arc. By comparison, Davidson was 16 for 35 (46 percent).
Quite certain Billy Lange will not forget his first A10 victory as a head coach.
Davidson drilled St.Bonaventure at the Bonnies’ Reilly Center just a few days earlier. The Wildcats entered The City of brotherly Love winners in six of their last eight. By all accounts, Davidson was playing better and appeared to be on a roll. Until Tuesday at least. Another thought. This was a road game but how many times has a Bob McKillop team led by nineteen at the half only to go down in defeat? About as frequently as we see Haley’s comet. If a game like this (and don’t forget UMass knocked off Saint Louis this same night) is any indication, it could be quite the wild and unexpected five days in Brooklyn come March.
