Less than 30 seconds into the Dec. 2 Big 5 Classic title game, St. Joe’s first-year Anthony Finkley found himself at the free throw line.
Just like that, St. Joe’s was on the board 2-0.
Red and white streamers rained down on the court from the student section. From that moment on, it was pure electricity in the Wells Fargo Center.
Banners were rolled out by the student section claiming “SJU Runs the Big 5” and “The Hawk Will Never Die,” foreshadowing the banner that was hoisted into the rafters of the arena after 40 minutes of play, a banner that named St. Joe’s the champions of the inaugural Big 5 Classic with a 74-65 win over Temple University.
“This is, in my opinion, a God-appointed moment, to have the amount of Philadelphia kids that we have on the team to have guys from South Jersey on our team,” Head Coach Billy Lange said following the win. “To see people like Cam Brown and Kacper [Klaczek] and Erik Reynolds who have been here, Chris Arizin, and Brian Geatens, Cooper Vogel, just to be a part of this, this is an appointed and anointed time.”
In the grand scheme of things, the game might not be anything more than an additional tick in the win column for the Hawks, but it holds more weight for the city of Philadelphia. It’s a win rooted in nearly 70 years of tradition and bragging rights for the team that comes out on top.
Many Philadelphians are aware of how big of a deal Big 5 basketball is to the city, which can account for the performance by some of St. Joe’s local players during the game.
Philly natives Finkley, Lynn Greer III, Xzayvier Brown and Camden native Rasheer Fleming combined for 48 of the Hawk’s 74 points. Fleming paced the Hawks with a career-high 22 points while also tallying nine boards and four blocks.
But what impressed Fleming’s teammate and junior guard Erik Reynolds II the most? Fleming’s “nonstop fight.”
“He brings that anyway, but [everyone else] now gets to see that,” Reynolds II said. “I know he has it in him. The nonstop fight, that’s just who Rasheer is.”
Greer III said he was also aware of the fact that St. Joe’s performance against Temple gave fans a glimpse at the amount of work the team puts in behind the scenes.
“It was truly a blessing to be able to win something with my brothers,” Greer III said. “We work very hard every day, stuff that people don’t see every day, so it was really a blessing, and I think we’re very happy, but we got a lot more games to go.”
The win marked St. Joe’s first Big 5 title since the 2011-2012 season when they shared the title with Temple. It was their first win outright since claiming the title in the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons back to back.
“It was a really good test for me and my teammates to just go out there and be the best Hawks that we can be,” Greer III said. “I think that’s what we did.”
The game marked one of many high-intensity situations for the Hawks this season and Lange said he offered them advice on how to stay focused despite the dynamic atmosphere of the arena while still encouraging them to enjoy the moment. The main thing he emphasized, however, was approaching the game as if it was the last of the season.
“I wanted them to attack this opportunity like that,” Lange said. “Intellectually, I told them it won’t be [the last game], but from a physical standpoint, from a mental preparation standpoint, from a playing-with- passion standpoint, I thought this was a big deal, and I feel like they executed that.”
Approaching the game in this way and playing through each of these high-intensity moments is something Reynolds II said the team has worked on to benefit them throughout the rest of their season.
“I have a lot of high expectations for this team,” Reynolds II said. “I know what we do every day, and we work on these situations every day in practice, so I never expect us to flinch in any moment, or any situation rather, that we step into.”
