Hawks edge Explorers on Kimble's shot

St. Joseph's has been in a bunch of tight games since losing leading scorer Shavar Newkirk to a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 30.

Not many of them went the Hawks' way.

So maybe they were just overdue. It became increasingly clear that the only certainty Saturday night at Hagan Arena was that the result would be agonizing for someone.

Lamarr Kimble hit a jumper from the right elbow with 14 seconds to go, Jordan Price's spinning layup try in traffic rolled off the rim just before time expired, and St. Joseph's (10-10, 3-5 Atlantic Ten) had a 73-72 win.

The Hawks, who had lost four of their previous five, led by eight at halftime but trailed by eight with just under eight minutes to go. Kimble had missed 10 of his first 14 shots, and hadn't scored in nine minutes.

"We've been losing games at the end," said Kimble, who got his fourth foul with 6 minutes, 32 seconds left. "It feels good to come out with a win.

"I live for that type of moment, especially in a Philly game," the Neumann-Goretti High graduate said. "I was born and raised here, so I grew up with all that tradition. I was just hoping [Price] would miss it. And it came out. We needed that."

As La Salle coach John Giannini noted, he'll take the look that Price got every time.

"[Kimble] made a huge shot," he said. "I like a 1-foot shot [to win]. You have to understand what you have to do to win a close game. I was upset with some of the turnovers in crunch time. We fouled a couple of times when we didn't have to. Mental errors. And the first half was a disaster."

The Explorers (11-8, 5-3) have lost three straight after winning five in a row. They will host Massachusetts (12-10, 2-7), which has dropped its last three and four of five, on Wednesday. This was their second game without Pookie Powell (lower leg injury).

The Hawks will get Davidson (11-8, 4-4) at home on Tuesday, the second of three consecutive games at Hagan Arena.

La Salle went up two on a turnaround jumper in the lane from Amar Stukes at 1:25. James Demery made one of two free throws 22 seconds later. Price missed from the foul line and Kimble did his thing.

"I tried to get to my mid-range spot," Kimble said. "[The shot] felt good. I might have willed it in."

The Hawks, who went 14 of 25 at the line, got career highs of 21 points (8 for 11, 4 for 5 from the arc) and five assists from sophomore Chris Clover, who had 10 points all last season (three against La Salle). He fouled out at 3:06.

Price had 16 of his 21 points in the second half.

The rematch will be Feb. 18 at Gola Arena. That's the designated Big Five matchup.

"We stayed connected, despite our foul trouble," said Hawks coach Phil Martelli. "We have not made shots all year in the last five minutes. But honestly, you shoot fouls like that in a Division I game you should lose."

Somehow, not this time.