Courtesy of SJUHawks.com
FULLERTON, CALIF. – Shavar Newkirk scored 22 points and freshman Taylor Funk scored all of his 15 points in the second half as Saint Joseph’s (3-3) rallied to a 74-69 win over Sacramento State (1-6) in the seventh-place game of the Wooden Legacy at Titan Gym.
Funk had five points in a key two-minute stretch as the Hawks broke a 66-66 tie with 1:45 to play and held a 72-67 lead with 40.6 seconds remaining. Newkirk hit three free throws in the final 41 seconds to ice the win and snap a two-game losing streak for Saint Joseph’s.
Redshirt freshman Lorenzo Edwards scored a career-high 10 points for his first game in double figures and James Demery added 15 points for the Hawks.
Sacramento opened the second half with a 12-4 run to take a 48-38 lead and increased it to their biggest of the game, 52-40. Edwards hit a pair of three-pointers and Nick Robinson added a dunk and a free throw to pull SJU within 55-48.
The Hawks continued the run and closed to within 57-55 with under eight minutes to play as Edwards contributed five points in the stretch. Demery tied the game with a pair of free throws, 57-57, and a three-pointer by Funk at 5:08 gave SJU its first lead since the first half, 60-57.
SJU was out of the gates quickly, hitting six of their first seven shots to jump out to a 15-4 lead, with eight points from Newkirk. But with SJU leading 17-7, Sacramento State used a 12-0 run to take a 19-17 lead. The Hornets kept going from there and while the Hawks missed 14 straight shots, ran up a 29-21 lead. Lorenzo Edwards broke the Saint Joseph’s skid with a putback at 5:14.
Sacramento State led, 36-32, at halftime as the Hornets shot 58 percent in the half, while the Hawks cooled off to 33 percent shooting.
Having played five of the first six games away from home, the Hawks will begin a stretch of four straight games in Philadelphia on Wednesday, November 29 against Bucknell at Hagan Arena.
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