He proudly talks of his stellar record in predicting the outcome of Eagles games on the radio, and his "Martelli the Magnificent" skit on his "Hawk Talk" television show has Martelli providing answers to questions yet to be asked.

But even Martelli couldn't have foreseen the efficiency his Hawks played with on the offensive end in yesterday's 82-74 win over Xavier in an Atlantic 10 game at the Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse.

Martelli was none too pleased with the offense, or lack thereof, his team showed in Wednesday's 56-55 overtime loss at Fordham.

Yesterday's effort was as different as a weekend with an Eagles game to one without.

"I didn't see this coming. We were dreadful against Fordham," Martelli said after his team improved to 11-7, 4-2 in the conference. "Xavier is a very tough-minded group of players. They're physical and they don't foul. The last couple of times we've played them, whenever we shoot more foul shots than them, we give ourselves a chance to win the game."

Making 20 of 21 from the line to Xavier's 12-for-15 certainly helped the young Hawks down the conference-favored Musketeers (13-6, 3-2), and so did many other things.

Freshman guard Jawan Carter pumped in a career-high 20 points, junior forward Pat Calathes contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Rob Ferguson and Ahmad Nivins each scored 16.

Another key factor was that the Hawks turned over the ball only nine times, just three times after the break and not at all in the last 15 minutes.

"If we keep our turnovers down, and we have shot the ball reasonably well all year long, we'll give ourselves a chance," Martelli said. "I would not have bet you that we could get 80. I thought this game had to be in the low 60s in order for us to be successful against such a balanced team, such a successful team."

So close was this one in the first half that the biggest lead St. Joe's got was at 14-8 and the largest by Xavier was 37-32. Neither team scored more than five straight before the break, which had the Hawks trailing, 40-38.

When Xavier forward Josh Duncan (20 points) deposited two free throws to tie the game, 57-57, with 10 minutes, 21 seconds left, Calathes sparked a 10-0 run that would give the Hawks their biggest lead of the day.

First, Calathes drilled a trey from the top of the key. Then he made a steal in the lane at the other end, leading to a nice crosscourt pass to a wide-open Carter, who drilled another trey to give the Hawks a 63-57 lead. A driving layup by Nivins and two foul shots by Ferguson made it 67-57 with 7:54 to go.

Xavier scored the next seven points to pull within three, but Carter scored nine of his team's final 15 points to help the Hawks pull off the win.

"The coaches have been talking to me about getting more aggressive," said Carter, who also dealt three assists. "Film and individual workouts have helped me. Coach [Doug] Overton works out with us before and after practice, giving us some tips on how to get to the basket, staying low and things like that. He's a big help for us as far as maturing."

Which can't be underplayed. Reaction to tough losses, like the one against Fordham, then playing one of the elite teams from the conference, like Xavier, is never easy. Especially for first-year players like Carter, D.J. Rivera, Garrett Williamson, Darrin Govens and Rockwell Moody, each of whom played a role in yesterday's win.

"I think we're young enough to get over [losses] fast," Calathes said. "We needed to get a win, and this one will do a lot for our confidence, especially heading into the heart of conference play. Coach said if we keep our heads straight and play our game instead of theirs and not turn the ball over, we'll be OK."

Xavier coach Sean Miller wasn't.

"It's disappointing when you score 74 points, have eight turnovers and shoot 48 percent," he said glumly. "That should be plenty of offense to win. But it's hard to when you play defense like we did. We didn't have any defensive answers for them. The game stayed close because our offense negated the way our defense was playing. We just couldn't stop the bleeding.

"And Carter was a big difference. The experience of guards was meaningless against him."

The win snapped a two-game losing streak by the Hawks. Could this be the start of something good?

Who knows. Martelli might not even be able to predict that. *