Saint Joseph's falls short against VCU

SAINT JOSEPH'S, which won 13 games last season but was 31st in the most recent RPI, was trying to win eight straight for the first time since March 2006.

And with seven minutes to go Tuesday night at Hagan Arena, it looked as if the Hawks would get to 12-2. At that point,they led Virginia Commonwealth, which had won its previous four, by 13.

So what happened?

Well, the Rams kept coming, which is what they often do. And the hosts kept missing free throws. And VCU was able to come all the way back for an improbable 85-82 win.

"The disappointment is not in losing," Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. "The disappointment is in controllable factors. It's always been a game of numbers. We didn't finish it. We didn't answer it well enough (down the stretch). The hurt really is in giving away a league home game. They have to be valued."

The Hawks, who won their Atlantic 10 opener three days earlier at Richmond, missed 10 of 19 second-half foul shots. DeAndre Bembry went 2-for-7, including the first of two with 1:24 left that could have put them up by one. At one point, they missed five straight. But they were still in front by double digits.

And they would miss four more, at which point they were still tied. But VCU started getting the ball inside when it needed to, and it was a little too much.

A layup by Mo Alie-Cox with a minute and a half left gave the Rams their first lead since 38-37 early in the second half. Some 20 seconds later, he put them in front for good with a short hook shot. A driving layup by JeQuan Lewis made it a four-point game. The Hawks, who host Rhode Island (10-5, 2-0) Sunday afternoon, got to within two twice, but VCU made three of four freebies in the final 16.7. And Bembry's trey that beat the buzzer caught some rim, yet never really looked as if it was going down.

"Of course, it affects me," said Bembry, who had 17 points and seven rebounds. "It affects all of the team. If I'm going to be the main person, I have to make free throws. That's the only bad thing about my game. It would have been a different story.

"A loss like this is heartbreaking. But I don't think it's going to mess up the rest of our season ... I might stay after and shoot some."

Isaiah Miles had 31 points on 11-for-14 shooting, five shy of the career high he had on Dec. 22, to go with nine boards. He went 5-for-7 from the line, but did miss one of two with 3:39 left.

"Good teams close that out," said Miles, who was 4-for-6 from the arc. "You can't do that with good teams. It's not the first time we've let teams back in it this season. We have to learn to seal.

"(We need to have a) short memory. We can't sit on this, let it affect the next game. We have to start a new streak."

The Hawks shot 56.7 percent (17-for-30) from the field after intermission, 66.7 (4-for-6) from the arc. It was the unguarded attempts that were the issue.

VCU (10-5, 2-0) got 25 from Melvin Johnson, its leading scorer. Eighteen came in the second half, including four of eight triples. Lewis had 19, Alie-Cox 14.

"You can't give up 47 points in a half," Martelli said. "You're not going to win against anyone in this league."

St. Joe's, of course, also got that many in the final 20 minutes. But his point was, well, accurate.

"It's unacceptable, the way we work on foul shooting," he continued. "You don't learn anything from losing. You can say you won't repeat this, but how do you know? You have to win at home when you're up 13.

"I don't sleep anyway, but the foul line will keep me up. I might not sleep until tomorrow night. But I think there's more to come. There was a buzz about this team. We have to make that a legit buzz."

When informed of Martelli's pending insomnia, Bembry could only nod knowingly.

"He might not be the only one," he acknowledged. "We all want to win."

At least there's half a season left to try to do maybe even a bunch more of that.

On Twitter: @mikekerndn