PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph’s (4-2) scored a decisive 65-47 win over Penn State (5-2) in the first home game of the year at Hagan Arena as Langston Galloway scored 17 points and C.J. Aiken netted 14.
Saint Joseph’s pitched a shutout for the first eight minutes of the first half, forcing the Nittany Lions into 0-for-18 shooting, while running up a 22-0 lead. The Hawks had taken a quick 10-0 lead, accented by a one-handed slam by C.J. Aiken at 16:56 and then increased it to 19-0 on another dunk by Aiken at 14:34.
Penn State ended the drought, scoring its first basket at 11:27 on a dunk by Ross Travis.
It was one of the best starts ever for Saint Joseph’s, and the best since December 21, 1995, when the Hawks jumped out on UC-Santa Barbara by an 18-0 score.
“For the start of the game you want to get the home crowd into it and put doubt in Penn State. It’s their first true road game. But I liked the fact that we only had five turnovers in the half,” said Hawk coach Phil Martelli.
The Hawks cooled off for the remainder of the half, scoring just 11 points in 13 minutes to lead, 33-10, at halftime. But the SJU defense held Penn State to 10 percent shooting (4-for-38) in the half.
Aiken was hard to stop as evidenced by his off-balance three-pointer from near the sideline as the shot clock ran out, with 9:32 to go. He finished the day shooting 6-for-8 from the field and totaling 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Hawks stayed in control during the second half, maintaining a 20-point lead through most of the half. SJU’s biggest lead of the game was 38-10, at 18:25 of the second half on a layup by Halil Kanacevic, who had four blocks on the day.
SJU outrebounded the Nittany Lions, 45-38.
Saint Joseph’s is in the midst of a home stretch that has them playing seven of eight at Hagan Arena. Next up for the Hawks is crosstown rival Drexel on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SportsRadio 610 WIP.
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