Courtesy of SJUHawks.com
James Demery scored a career-high 27 points to lead Saint Joseph’s (8-6; 2-1 A-10) to a 70-55 win over Fordham (6-10; 0-3) in Atlantic 10 action at Rose Hill Gym. The win marks the 200th Atlantic 10 victory of head coach Phil Martelli’s career at SJU.
Demery shot 10-for-16 from the field while grabbing six rebounds in just his third game back after missing 10 early games with a stress fracture. Lamarr Kimble added 12 points, six assists and tied his career-high with nine rebounds. Markell Lodge and Brendan Casper each tied their career-highs with 10 points apiece, while Casper added a personal best five assists.
Martelli owns the most conference wins of any active league coach and ranks second all-time in A-10 victories behind Temple’s John Chaney (296). The Hawks’ coach earned his first league victory on January 20, 1996 against La Salle at The Palestra.
Saint Joseph’s led the entire game but Fordham opened the second half with a 13-6 run to trim the Hawks’ lead to 50-42 at 14:48. The Rams came within 52-47 at 13:15 before a dunk by Chris Clover started an 18-2 Saint Joseph’s run. Demery had seven points in the spurt while the Hawks kept Fordham off the board for seven minutes until Will Tavares hit a jumper at 6:11, as SJU owned a 68-49 lead.
Saint Joseph’s led early, 16-11, but went without a point for five minutes until a jumper by Nick Robinson gave them an 18-11 lead at 11:42. That started a 14-7 run, which included four points from Casper, to put SJU up 30-18 on a three-pointer by Kimble with 6:26 to play in the half.
The Hawks shot 60.7 percent in the first half and took a 42-28 lead on a three-pointer by Kimble with 1:17 left. After a bucket by Lodge, SJU owned its biggest lead of the half, 44-29, at the break.
Antwoine Anderson and Tavares led Fordham with 12 points while Joseph Chartouny and Javontae Hawkins scored 11 apiece.
Saint Joseph’s returns to Hagan Arena on Tuesday, January 10 to host George Mason at 7 p.m.
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