DAVIDSON, N.C. — Jack Gibbs hit five three-pointers and scored 35 points to lead Davidson to a 99-93 shootout win over Saint Joseph's on Saturday.
Nathan Ekwu finished with 18 points and eight rebounds and Peyton Aldridge added 15 points for Davidson (16-9, 8-6 Atlantic 10), which dealt Saint Joseph's its first road loss of the season. Saint Joseph's was the last team in the nation without a road loss.
The Hawks had entered play a perfect 9-0 on the road, the last remaining unbeaten in Division I.
"You have to communicate better on the road," Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli said. "We didn't. We didn't communicate well enough."
Isaiah Miles led the Hawks (22-5, 11-3) with 32 points on 12 of 18 shooting. DeAndre' Bembry added 19, with 17 coming in the second half.
Shavar Newkirk pitched in with 13 points and Aaron Brown had 12 points for the Hawks, who allowed the Wildcats to shoot 56.6 percent from the field and 47.6 percent (10 for 21) from three. The 99 points are easily the most the Hawks have allowed this season. The previous mark was 86 in their loss to Villanova on Dec. 1.
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"We need to be much better defensively and we weren't there," Martelli said.
Both Saint Joseph's (56.1 percent) and Davidson shot well from the field, though the Wildcats were 29 for 36 from the free throw line. The Hawks were 10 of 16 at the charity stripe.
In the game's first four minutes, the two teams combined to score 25 points and Saint Joseph's owned a 14-11 lead. Its largest first-half lead was 24-16.
Saint Joseph's led 48-43 at the break and continued to hold a slight advantage throughout much of the second half. But a 7-0 Davidson run, capped by an Aldridge three-point play with 6:03 left gave the Wildcats an 82-79 lead. Saint Joseph's largest lead in the second half was six, but the Wildcats tied it seven times.
Davidson did not trail the rest of the afternoon. An Aldridge three made it 89-83 and two Ekwu free throws pushed Davidson's advantage to eight (91-83) with 1:19 remaining.
"Could have practiced better on Thursday — that's on me," Martelli said.
"For the first time all year, we were not attentive defensively."
The Hawks are back in action Wednesday night, when they're in Massachusetts for a contest against UMass.