Western Kentucky edges St. Joe's at Garden

NEW YORK - St. Joseph's deserves a break before two Big Five matchups next week after playing six games in 13 days.

But now the Hawks have to wonder how they can bounce back after a tough, 62-59 loss to Western Kentucky on Thursday in the NIT Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

Temple and No. 12 Villanova will be more formidable opponents for St. Joseph's (3-3) next Wednesday and Saturday.

But can the Hawks compete with them? They lost by 52 points at Gonzaga and fell to lesser teams Western Kentucky and Farleigh Dickinson.

"I have no question about the effort," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said. "Now we have to improve the mental aspect of how you play close games. That's what we're going to be. We're going to be in close games."

The Hawks trailed by 31-24 at halftime. They scored on back-to-back steals to tie the score at 50 after DeAndre' Bembry's two-handed dunk with 6 minutes, 14 seconds left in the second half.

Bembry, who finished with a career-high 23 points and four steals, gave St. Joe's its first lead of the second half with a layup to make it 54-52 at 2:46. But Western Kentucky (2-3) responded with an 8-2 run, capped by T.J. Price's two free throws.

West Virginia transfer Aaron Brown, who was held under double figures for the first time this season with five points, nailed a three-pointer with 6.3 seconds remaining to make it a one-point game for the Hawks.

But Price sealed it with two more free throws for the Hilltoppers, who were led by George Fant with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

After wins against Vermont and LIU Brooklyn, St. Joe's looked out of gas to begin its Thanksgiving matchup.

The Hawks missed their first six shots of the game and had nine of their 15 turnovers in the first half.

Isaiah Miles, who finished with nine points, and Javon Baumann (11) helped the Hawks rally in the second half. But missed free throws (the Hawks were 6 for 15) and mistakes down the stretch proved costly.

"I think we can be strong mentally when we focus," Bembry said. "We're a real good defensive team. This team definitely has the toughness in them, but we've got to learn how to keep that the whole game."