Hawks end bleak season with A-10 tourney loss

PITTSBURGH - A lot of people probably figured Saint Joseph's season basically ended on Dec. 30, when the Hawks lost leading scorer Shavar Newkirk for the duration with a knee injury.

Then on Feb. 11, they lost Lamarr Kimble, their new top scorer, with a broken foot.

So much for having a backcourt.

And for a team that was picked to finish ninth in the Atlantic 10 after having lost almost everything from the group that won a conference title last March, a promising 8-6 start eventually turned into a winless February. Didn't matter that many of them were close.

But they never stopped playing. They just didn't have enough. And that's what happened one final time Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena in the opening round of the A-10 Tournamant against Massachusetts.

With 71/2 minutes to go, a Hawks team that broke a nine-game losing streak on Saturday trailed by 19 against an opponent that had already beaten them twice. It looked as if it was time to collect uniforms. Yet there they were, scoring the next 14 points. And they even got it to a one-possession game with 14 seconds showing, despite missing four foul shots during the comeback (including the front end of a one-and-one). But that was as close as it got, and the 12th-seeded Minutemen (15-17) won, 70-63, to advance into Thursday afternoon's second round against fifth seed St. Bonaventure (19-11).

The Hawks (11-20), who had players taking midterm exams in their hotel Wednesday morning, went home to begin what figures to be a reflective offseason.

"There's no assumptions here (about next season)," said coach Phil Martelli, who won this tourney two of the previous three years. "We walk out of here with 20 losses. We will not repeat that.

"We have to get better. To be honest, I think I was right in August. I was concerned about our basketball maturity. And that carried all the way through. I'm not knocking them. That's what the mirror tells me. So what do I do to make them more grown-up in terms of basketball?

"You need men to be in this league. Who's the next man? It's not about will. It's about skill."

The Hawks were down seven at the half, at which point UMass had as many blocks (seven) as St. Joe's had field goals. Usually not a good sign.

It's hard to win when you shoot 37 percent (23 of 62). Or when you have two forwards, a freshman and a former walk-on, doing the bulk of the ballhandling because there were no other options.

"Without a point guard, that's what your offense looks like," Martelli correctly pointed out.

James Demery, who missed 10 of the first 11 games with a stress fracture in his foot, had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Charlie Brown scored 14, going 4-for-7 from the arc. Nick Robinson had seven assists and no turnovers.

And somehow, they had a chance. Although it probably was asking a little too much to pull it out.

"That's kind of what we've been about all year," said senior Brendan Casper, the onetime walk-on who had five points on 2-for-6 shooting in 20 minutes. "We just battle and grind. But we got in a hole. And (making it close) isn't really going to do it for us.

"Looking back, maybe we just didn't have enough talent. But we gave everything we had. That's kind of been our motto. We never looked at the score . . . It's definitely disappointing. The record sticks with you. But I was part of some real good things, too. I've got two rings. That ain't bad. I'll remember that. It's tough when you don't have playmakers, guys who can create off the dribble."

The Minutemen, who went 71/2 minutes without a field goal until getting a breakaway dunk at the buzzer, got 17 points from C.J. Anderson (6-for-7, 3-for-4 from three), 14 from Zach Lewis (2-for-10, 9-for-10 at the line) and 13 off the bench from Luwane Pipkins.

"I remember my sophomore year (13-18), some of the things we went through helped us be a better team last season," said Casper. "We managed to take some positives from it. Obviously, you never want to go 11-20. But it's a big deal for the younger guys to get that experience."

Only if it starts to make a difference in another eight months or so.

"I give them a lot of credit," said Martelli. "They never said, 'Coach, this guy's out. It makes a difference.' This was humbling, for all of us. I don't think you can get better until you're humbled."

It wasn't for lack of trying, but lack of capable pieces. And there was nothing any of them could do about it except play it out with what they had left.

kernm@phillynews.com

@mikekerndn