St. Joe’s beats George Mason in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament
St. Joe’s men’s basketball team won their first game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament 68-49 in a quarterfinal showdown against George Mason University on March 9.
During the regular season, George Mason beat St. Joe’s on two buzzer beaters. Senior guard Shavar Newkirk said the Hawks weren’t worried about vengeance.
“We were focused on this game,” Newkirk said. “We weren’t worried about vengeance. We just try to play one game at a time.”
Senior forward James Demery did not start this game. After being injured with a sprained ankle, he has not circulated back into the starting lineup. Head coach Phil Martelli said that Demery is more effective off the bench.
“Early on, when he was starting, he was playing too many minutes,” Martelli said. “I wanted James to be the best sixth man in the country. Not in the league, in the country. With fewer minutes, he can be more effective.”
Prior to the game, George Mason’s head coach Dave Paulsen said that his guys need to be locked in.
“With this league, every single game is a grindout,” Paulsen said. “They’re all coming down to the wire. We try to tell our guys to be locked in.”
The Hawks had a very sloppy first half of play. Missed layups and poor ball movement prevented them from pulling away. Neither team led by more than four points for the entire half. Sophomore guard Nick Robinson said that there wasn’t a lot of ball movement in the game.
“Our offense was really stagnant,” Robinson said. “We knew if we started moving the ball we would be fine. Once we focused, it showed.”
St. Joe’s shot 31 percent from the field in the first half. They were also 30 percent from three and 71 percent from the line.
The second half was a different story. After eight minutes, The Hawks were up by 10 points. They extended their lead to 16 points at the nine minute mark with a score of 52-36.
George Mason fought back to within nine points at the five minute mark, but St. Joe’s quickly extended. They finished the game with their largest lead, 68-49.
Robinson said ball movement needs to be better headed into the next game.
“Every possession matters,” Robinson said. “If we come out and move the ball, we’re a really good team.”
The Hawks will take on number one seed Rhode Island University tomorrow, March 10, in the semifinals of the A-10 Tournament.
