NEW YORK — Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli wouldn’t even mention the NCAA Tournament by name. He hadn’t thought about seeding or the bubble, he claimed. Hadn’t looked at an RPI sheet.
Considering how the first half went for his Hawks in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals against George Washington, ignorance was probably bliss. They entered the locker room at halftime down 14, 49-35, and were staring at the possibility of a third consecutive loss, one which very well could have forced them off the NCAA bubble and into the NIT.
With the season on the line, Saint Joseph’s (25-7, 14-5 A-10) rallied around its frontcourt stalwarts. Junior DeAndre Bembry and senior Isaiah Miles were the driving forces behind the Hawks’ biggest comeback of the season: an 86-80 win over the Colonials that sets them up with a game against top-seeded Dayton on Saturday and puts them in a strong position to earn an NCAA bid (see Instant Replay).
George Washington (23-10, 11-8) took advantage early on of a St. Joe’s defense that entered tied with Duquesne at surrendering the most three-point attempts (456) in conference play. Though the Hawks had the league’s best three-point field goal percentage defense (.314) in that time frame, the Colonials quickly rendered that statistic meaningless: they hit 11 treys in the first 20 minutes alone.
The Colonials hit six threes in a 4:15 span early in the first half, pushing the lead from 9-8 to 27-16 with 10:22 to go in the first half.
“Those flurries, to be honest with you, felt like a street fight,” said Martelli, who recorded the 400th victory of his career. “And if you've ever been in a street fight, you don't know where the punches are coming from and you're just trying to cover up, and that's really what was going on.”
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Saved by the first-half horn, the Hawks came out of the locker room with new life. An 11-0 run in the first five minutes was capped by Bembry's using a beautiful head fake to draw the split-second opening he needed to finish off a transition opportunity with a pull-up three.
Bembry — who was recognized for winning the A-10 Player of the Year award in a brief pregame ceremony — scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the second half.
“We knew that they would miss shots in the second half, so our offense is really not the problem for this team,” he said. “We just knew if we get any stops, we'd come back and score, and that's what happened.”
One last burst put the Hawks ahead for good.
Down 73-72 with 5:34 to go, St. Joe’s went on another big run. This time, the Hawks put up eight unanswered points in 3:40. Bembry scored four, but his biggest contribution came as a distributor.
After corralling a missed three, Bembry sent an outlet pass to Miles, who finished with a left-handed dunk in front of a raucous section of supporters that had been chanting his name all half. The slam pushed the Hawks’ lead to six and forced Colonials coach Mike Lonergan to call for time.
“I want to credit DeAndre' for looking for me, keeping his head up on the fast break. Plays like that is when you take the energy away from the other team,” said Miles, who finished with 15 points. “Definitely, I feel like we gained the momentum, and it was really good to have the crowd on our side.”
St. Joe’s will need that kind of support against Dayton, which the Hawks defeated, 79-70, back on Feb. 17. The Flyers are a lock to make the NCAA Tournament and a second victory would remove any lingering doubt that the Hawks would be joining them next week.
“I knew one thing, we're playing next week,” Martelli said. “We're playing next week. Might not be in the tournament that we all have worked so hard for, but we're playing next week.
“So let's play for today, this day and this day only.”