Sports and Rants with Brett and Pants : Defense Wins in Hagan

Defense won the game for Saint Joseph’s Hawks against the George Mason Patriots, with a score of 54-58 in Hagan Arena. If the Hawks repeat this performance in the last 8 Atlantic games, it will not be enough to finish in good-standing. The team needs to improve offensively. St. Joe’s struggled to take the ball past Mason’s aggressive defense. In the second half

DeAndre Bembry’s sealed the game with a dunk. The game would have been over well before the dunk, but free throws were once again were an issue. It is hard to win a college basketball game when the team is shooting 51 percent from the foul line.

Head Coach, Phil Martelli is aware that the team will only win their upcoming games from playing strong defensively. Martelli will put together a starting lineup based on who will provide the best defensive match-ups. The Hawks totaled 12 steals and were able to capitalize on 7 of those possessions.

Besides a strong defense, Jai Williams energized the team with his high energy plays. He has been improving during practice and deserved the opportunity to play against George Mason. Jai is tremendous at using his size and athleticism to his advantage. He could be an offensive presence that the Hawks need under the basket. Williams entered the game and scored 6 pts in one and half minutes. Jai and DeAndre came to Hawk Hill in the same recruiting class. Their relationship was shown as Bembry found Williams under the basket twice. Defensively, Jai’s effort was the key as he gave all that he could to block as many shots. Two attempts ended up being fouls, however one was successful.

Jai Williams and Javon Bauman had a tough match-up. The two Hawk centers were defending against George Mason’s best player, center Shevon Thompson. Thompson is ranked 16^th in the national with 11 double doubles. Thompson grabbed rebounds and scored with ease. He finished the game with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Isaiah Miles left the first half with 2 and half minutes to left with a reported sprained knee. During halftime, he wrapped it up with ice, and returned in the second half. It did not appear to affect him too much, but he had open shots that he did not take advantage of. Miles also did not appear to attack the ball in the air like he has in the past. Hawk fans hope that the injury does not linger during the remaining games.

The biggest positive is that the Hawks never lost the lead throughout the entire game. Saint Joseph’s plays next against Rhode Island in Hagan Arena at 7:00pm on Wednesday.

-- Pants