Saint Joseph’s 81, Marist 62: Galloway, Roberts lead Hawks in thrashing of Marist

By JAMES HILL

StJoesHoops.com

@jrhill17

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After storming out of the gate to the tune of a 12-0 lead, the Hawks used a dominating inside presence and lights out second-half shooting to claim an 81-62 win over Marist in the opener at Hagan Arena.

“We want to start every game like that – we definitely want that mentality,” Saint Joseph’s forward Halil Kanacevic said following the game. “We want to jump on everything quick.”

The Hawks certainly jumped on everything in this game, as multiple steals and long rebounds led to three dunks by Kanacevic and Ron Roberts to ignite their fast start. As each team settled in, the Hawks got inside at will on the Red Foxes in the first half. Roberts scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds while Kanacevic added nine points and seven rebounds to propel the Hawks to a 40-25 lead at the break.

“We should always rebound like that,” Roberts said after being told of his team’s 47-26 advantage in rebounds. “Halil is a great rebounder, I can rebound, Javon [Baumann] can rebound. Some of our guards, like Langston [Galloway] and DeAndre [Bembry], can rebound. So we should really outrebound a lot of the teams we play.”

Roberts finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Kanacevic had a great all-around stat line, finishing two assists short of a triple-double. He tallied 12 points, snared 11 rebounds, and dished out eight assists.

As dominating as the Hawks were in the post in the first half, they were just as good from the perimeter in the second half. The Hawks buried six of their 10 attempts from range in the second frame. Galloway found his rhythm after the break, going 3-for-3 from range and scoring 14 of his team-high 20 points.

“I knew in the second half they would try to come out and get back in the game,” Galloway said after the game. “We had to knock them out early, and that’s what I tried to do.”

Marist did keep the game respectable before finally caving in at the start of the second half. Following the Hawks’ 12-0 spurt, Marist scored 10 of the next 13 points to claw back to within five. The Red Foxes’ perimeter shooting did not help their cause, however, as Marist went 0-11 in the first half from range.

The Hawks’ defensive effort fell off in the second half, as Chavaughn Lewis helped the Red Foxes to 37 points in the second half. Lewis led all scorers with 26 on the game.

“I’d like to say it was great coaching but it was numeric,” explained Saint Joseph’s Head Coach Phil Martelli of the Red Foxes’ poor perimeter shooting. “We just played the numbers. Our perimeter defense in the first half fell off…. Those are two second-halves now where we gave up 38 at Vermont and now 37 here.”

The Hawks now turn their attention to Creighton and All-America forward Doug McDermott. St. Joe’s, hoping to build off the momentum of a 2-0 start, host the Blue Jays on Saturday.

“We’re undefeated,” Martelli said flatly. “We’ve won two games. Now we have two days of preparation.”

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PHIL MARTELLI POSTGAME VIDEO:

Click HERE for link.

 

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James Hill covers Saint Joseph’s basketball for StJoesHoops.com. Reach James at [email protected], @jrhill17 on Twitter, or comment below.