St. Joe's beats up on Rhode Island

SAINT JOSEPH'S didn't need C.J. Aiken in order to dispose of lowly Fordham last weekend. But they're going to need him if they have hopes of securing a ticket to the NCAA Tournament - a feat bracketologists say will require an Atlantic 10 Tournament title.

On Wednesday night, Aiken showed why.

Behind their junior center, the Hawks (17-11, 8-7 A-10) dismantled Rhode Island on Senior Night at Hagan Arena, 81-44. Aiken, who sat out the Fordham game, scored 10 points in only 10 first-half minutes off the bench to propel St. Joe's to a 19-point halftime lead.

"He didn't practice [Tuesday]," Hawks coach Phil Martelli said afterwards, adding that Aiken has opted to ride the bike since aggravating a back injury against Saint Louis on Feb. 27.

Aiken finished with 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting and tied a season high with three treys. Headed into Wednesday's game, he was shooting a dismal 26.1 percent from deep. Martelli said Aiken's shot selection showed improvement.

"Other than one three that he took, I was comfortable with what he did out there," the coach said.

With four scorers in double figures, the Hawks' trademark balanced attack was on full display. Ronald Roberts notched his 13th double-double of the year, with 11 boards and 13 points.

Senior Carl Jones, the team's leading scorer, finished his Hagan Arena career with 10 points to give him 1,776 in 4 years, good for fourth in school history. Jones exited to a standing ovation with 4 minutes remaining.

"I'm glad we could have fun my last game here and everybody could enjoy it," Jones said. "I'd take that every game."

Despite slow starts from both teams, the Hawks managed to open up a seven-point lead with just under 6 minutes to play in the first half. From there, St. Joe's reeled off 14 straight to close it out. They continued to roll in the second half.

While its record doesn't show it, Rhode Island (8-20, 3-12) has played tough under first-year coach Danny Hurley. The Rams have led at halftime in their last five games, the two most recent of which came against La Salle and Temple.

"My biggest thing was how we would come out," Martelli said. "We drilled our team about it. It was a big deal to pull away in the first half."

St. Joe's travels to Charlotte for its regular-season finale on Saturday. A win would give the Hawks their third three-game win streak of the season. Neither of the first two streaks made it to four.

"Last week we talked about if I think we can win four straight games [in the A-10 Tournament]," Martelli said. "I wouldn't show up for work tomorrow if I didn't think we could. But I'm not interested in that, only if we can win on Saturday night."