What Chris Clover started, Lamarr Kimble made sure to finish.
Kimble hit the game-winning jumper with 15 seconds left, Clover finished with a career-high 21 points and Saint Joseph’s edged city rival La Salle, 73-72, on Saturday at Hagan Arena.
Jordan Price finished with 21 but missed two shots in the final minute for La Salle (11-8, 5-3), which has now lost three straight following a five-game winning streak.
The Hawks (10-10, 3-5) picked up a much-needed win after dropping four of their previous five games.
Trailing by eight at the half, La Salle quickly staged a comeback and took a 53-49 lead with 11 minutes left on a Price three-pointer. It was a tight contest from there with the Big 5 rivals trading leads and big shots.
With the game tied at 70-70, La Salle’s Amar Stukes hit a short floater with 1:20 left — the first field goal for either team in more than four minutes — before the Hawks’ James Demery hit one of two free throws on the other end.
After Price missed a jumper, Kimble buried the game-winner with 15.8 seconds left and Price missed another shot from close-range as time expired. Kimble’s shot was the Hawks’ first made field goal in nearly six minutes.
Saturday’s game did not count toward the Big 5 standings. The official Big 5 contest will take place when the two teams reconvene on Feb. 18.
Big men on campus
Clover’s 21 points came on 8 for 11 shooting and 4 for 5 shooting from three-point range before fouling out with 3:06 left. He also had a career-high five assists.
Also for St. Joe's, freshman Charlie Brown had 15 points, Kimble scored 14 and Demery had 13.
Price scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half. Amar Stukes scored 16 points and five assists and B.J. Johnson finished with 14.
By the numbers
• There were 44 total fouls with St. Joe’s shooting 14 for 25 from the free throw line and La Salle shooting 22 for 30.
• St. Joe’s shot 52.9 percent from three-point range while La Salle shot 33.3 percent.
• St. Joe’s finished with 13 turnovers and La Salle had 10
First half
The game was back and forth for the first few minutes before a 16-6 run put St. Joe’s up 27-18 with a little under eight minutes to go. The Hawks maintained their advantage the rest of the way, taking a 37-29 lead into halftime.
Clover had 16 points in the first half, setting his career high less than nine minutes into the contest. He shot 6 for 7 from the field and 3 for 3 from three-point range before halftime.
As a team, the Hawks shot 52.2 percent from the field and 60 percent from three-point range while the Explorers shot 31 and 28.6 percent.
Welcome back, Marvin
Before the game, former St. Joe’s star and Big 5 Hall of Famer Marvin O’Connor was honored.
O’Connor may be best known for a game against La Salle in 2001 when he scored 18 points in less than a minute. One fan told him before the game it was “the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in basketball.”
Several other former players were also in attendance and welcomed back throughout the second half.
Up next
St. Joe’s hosts Davidson on Tuesday.
La Salle welcomes UMass on Wednesday.