Saint Joseph's defeats Niagara

IF THIS was last November and Saint Joseph's had played a first half in which DeAndré Bembry has as many fouls (two) as shots from the field and free-throw line combined, the offensively-challenged Hawks might have been in single digits. Sunday evening at Hagan Arena, this SJU team, with more firepower, actually put up 34 points at the break and had Niagara down six on the way to a 73-62 win.

Now, Niagara, 15-50 in two seasons plus two games since coach Joe Mihalich went to Hofstra and took some very talented players with him, is not the kind of opponent the Hawks will see in the Atlantic 10. But 2-0 is 2-0 and that is SJU after beating Drexel in the Friday opener.

"We have to keep looking and finding the combinations," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said. "There are guys that can play."

In fact, the coach said he can use two point guards, four wings and four frontcourt players. That was not the case a season ago. Even with Bembry having a sensational sophomore season in 2014-15, scoring was a season-long problem. Two games does not constitute a trend, but 82 points against the Dragons and 73 against the Purple Eagles is something.

Bembry eventually found his offensive game, scored eight points in 75 seconds early the second half (lay-in off a lob, midrange pull up, layup, layup) and finished with 12 points to go with six rebounds and seven assists. He is two shy of 1,000 career points.

Bembry knew the score at halftime so he was unconcerned that he had not gotten on the board.

"If we were losing, maybe, but I feel like I can turn it on if I really need to and that's what I did at the start of the second half," he said.

The coach was not thrilled with his star at halftime.

"When you have all the notoriety, you've got to be there," Martelli said. "That stretch in the second half, that was real."

Bembry said the coach did not need to say anything to him.

"I just said something to myself," he said.

SJU seniors Isaiah Miles and Aaron Brown each scored 14 points. Nine players scored for the Hawks. The three true freshmen and one redshirt freshman got 21 points among them, 12 by the lone starter in the group, Checco Oliva.

In addition to the points, Oliva also had eight rebounds and five assists. The coach was not sure what he had in Oliva during recruiting or individual workouts. That changed on Oct. 3, the first day of fall practice when he just started to make plays.

"I said, 'He's good, we're set, he's in the rotation,' " Martelli said.

Martelli describes the 6-8 Oliva as a "point forward."

"This kid can pass, this kid knows what he's doing with the ball," Martelli said.

Oliva was not expecting this much run this soon.

"I hoped for it," he said.

But he really did not think he had been playing that well. The coach saw something, went with it, told him he was starting last Tuesday. The early returns are quite positive.

Miles lived last season when it was Bembry or bust. When he did not score . . .

"It was a bad game," Miles said. "Having that extra skill and extra depth is just great."

The Hawks had 18 assists on their 26 baskets, held the Purple Eagles to 30.3 percent shooting, outscored them 36-18 in the lane and had 14 fastbreak points.

"We're small," Bembry said. "We have to be fast, we have to use that."

Niagara (0-2) managed to hang around in the first half despite missing 13 consecutive shots during one endless stretch of less-than-artful hoops. When Bembry went off to start the second and Niagara proceeded to miss 17 of its first 20 shots over 13 minutes while the Hawks ran the ball at the rim, the lead eventually grew to 59-35 with 8 minutes left. St. Joe's eased up down the stretch to make the final score closer than the game.