Hawks stay alive in A-10
It took overtime to do it, but St. Joseph's got past GW. Next up is Duquesne in A.C.
WASHINGTON - Surprisingly, it's not time for St. Joseph's to wrap up its season.
The No. 12-seeded Hawks scored the first 12 points of overtime en route to a 71-59 victory over fifth-seeded George Washington in the opening round of the Atlantic Ten tournament on Tuesday night.
St. Joseph's advanced to the quarterfinals against No. 4-seeded Duquesne in a tipoff at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The Hawks lost to the Dukes, 75-63, at Hagan Arena on Jan. 5.
After losing their first eight conference games, the Hawks have won five of their last nine against A-10 opponents.
St. Joseph's (10-21) led by 14 nearly halfway into the second half, but saw George Washington (17-14) whittle away at the lead until the Colonials tied the game at 49 with two Tony Taylor free throws with 59 seconds remaining.
Both teams had chances to take the lead in the final minute of regulation. The Hawks committed a shot-clock violation with 22 seconds left. George Washington had two shots in the final seconds, including a jumper by Taylor, to win it, but they missed both. Taylor scored 10 points in the closing minutes to key the Colonials' comeback.
In overtime, the Hawks hit 18 of 20 from the free-throw line, outscoring George Washington by 22-10.
Freshman guard Carl Jones had a key steal and layup to set the tone in overtime. Langston Galloway led the Hawks with 15 points.
The game featured two differing styles of play. St. Joseph's was content with slowing the game down and working the shot clock while George Washington looked to push the ball up court.
The Hawks waited for the shot clock to wind down before taking shots, passing the ball around the perimeter as the Colonials tried to force a steal. This worked for the first 30 minutes with the Hawks hitting clutch shots in the shot clock's waning seconds. But over the game's final 10 minutes, they were unable to get looks in the paint.
In the first half, the Hawks took advantage of the Colonials' aggressive defense that frequently double-teamed and pressured in the backcourt by finding the open man for easy baskets. The Hawks were unfazed by the pressure, turning the ball over just three times in the half.