Hawks prevail at Palestra

On a day when their evil sister Villanova was beating up on No. 10 North Carolina down at Broad and Pattison, La Salle and St. Joseph's showed the spirit of the Big 5 was still alive and well Saturday night at the packed-to-the-brim Palestra. While the showdown was officially the first ever Atlantic 10 meeting between the two schools -- this is La Salle's first season in the expanded 12-team conference -- there was no doubt among any of the players, coaches or 7,408 Philadelphia patrons on hand that it was a Big 5 matchup. "What did you expect?" asked first-year Hawks coach Phil Martelli, who has seen his share of Big 5 thrillers while working as a St. Joe's assistant for the past 10 seasons. "If you thought it would be any different, you're crazy. Put two city teams in this building and crazy things happen." The Hawks' 67-65 victory had every element of the classic Big 5 script -- great defense, players diving on the Palestra hardwood for loose balls, and of course, a fantastic ending. That finish was set up by missed opportunities on both sides. After a lackluster first half -- which saw the Hawks build a 32-25 lead on the strength of their defense, and seven points apiece from forward Reggie Townsend and center Will Johnson -- both sides picked up the play in the second half. After shooting a miserable 25.9 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of play, the Explorers (4-11, 1-3 Atlantic 10), lit it up after intermission. After trading buckets for the first six minutes of the half, La Salle coach Speedy Morris called a timeout, encouraging his players to extend the Explorers' patented zone defense to defend the three-point shooting of St. Joe's marksmen Rashid Bey and Mark Bass. Bey had just made two consecutive treys from the right wing over La Salle guard Mike Gizzi, sending Speedy jumping off the bench and earning Gizzi a seat on it. The Explorers responded to the lecture, picking up the defense and executing efficiently on the offensive end for the first time all night. Several transition layups and made three-pointers later, La Salle had run off 14 consecutive points and taken a 55-47 lead with under 10 minutes to play. Everyone in the building expected the Hawks (6-5, 1-1) to make a run of their own, and sure enough, they did. Trailing 59-55 after a Gizzi layup, St. Joe's went to a three-quarter-court trap that flustered the Explorers and ignited a 10-0 run. "That's where we lost the ballgame," Morris said. "We had a lead late in the second half, and we went four consecutive possessions without even getting a shot off. It comes from experience, and we don't have a lot of experience." But sure enough, the Hawks six-point lead with 47.5 seconds remaining was as tenuous as La Salle's earlier deficit. Gizzi quickly responded with a layup, cutting the margin to four and then the Hawks tried to dig their own grave from the free throw line. After Johnson missed the front end of a one-and-one, La Salle quickly got the ball to junior forward Everett Catlin for an uncontested dunk. Timeout La Salle. The Explorers bench erupted as St. Joe's suddenly found itself in a ballgame they thought they had won moments ago. Off the inbounds pass, La Salle fouled Bey with 24.1 seconds showing on the clock. The senior, who was shooting 78 percent from the charity stripe on the season, did his share to add to the drama and missed the front end. The Explorers rebounded the miss and pushed the ball down to Catlin on the blocks. His layup knotted the score at 65 with 14.1 ticks remaining. But as anyone familiar with the Big 5 knows, the Hawks never die. Without calling for time, they raced the ball up the court, and Townsend converted a leaner from the right wing sending Townsend's fist into the air and the predominantly red-clad crowd into a frenzy. "It felt good coming off my hands," Townsend said. "I knew it was good." As the ball swooshed through the net, the clock showed 7.3 seconds remaining, which gave the Explorers one last chance to steal the game. Point guard and Philadelphia native Shawn "Reds" Smith took the inbounds pass and dribbled directly to St. Joe's three-point line. With the defense backing away, not wanting to foul, Smith let it fly just before the horn sounded. The referee's cry of, "Good if it goes!" was the only thing that pierced the hushed and anticipating silence until the ball clanged off the front rim, kissed the backboard and fell to the floor. "I thought it was going in," Townsend admitted. "I was standing under the basket and I said, 'Oh no, here we go again.' " "Shawn makes that shot 10 times in practice every day," Morris said. "The real difference was that St. Joe's knew they were going to win this game, and we always had doubts."