Jameer Nelson tallied 23 points and had eight steals to lead Saint Joseph's to a 67-59 win over Penn in the second game played at the Palestra as part of the Big 5 Classic. After going up 9-8 early in the first half, the Hawks (5-0, 1-0 Big 5) never trailed although the Quakers (2-3, 0-1 Big 5) repeatedly drew close. After falling behind, 27-16, with less than two minutes to play in the first half, Penn sunk three straight three-pointers, two by junior Tim Begley and one by senior Jeff Schiffner, to narrow the lead to two, 27-25. After a timeout, Nelson responded with a driving jumper and Hawk forward Dwayne Jones added a dunk before time expired to give St. Joseph's a 31-25 halftime advantage. In the first ten minutes of the second half, the Hawks were able to push their lead to 10 points, but the Red and Blue again responded with long-range shooting to get back in the game. Schiffner knocked down two consecutive three-pointers to cut the lead from 10 to four with 9:55 to go in the game before Nelson countered with a penetrating layup to push the Hawk lead to 48-42. Penn guard Charlie Copp responded in turn with a three-pointer shot a couple of feet behind the arc to bring the Quakers within three. However, St. Joseph's showed their own resiliency as the backcourt of junior Delonte West and Nelson combined to score the next eight points giving the Hawks their biggest lead of the game, 56-45. Once again, the Quakers fought back and went on a 14-6 run to pull within three
after Copp drained a three-pointer with 38 seconds to play. However, the Hawks held on after Penn was forced to foul -- sinking five out of their final six foul shots to preserve the win. In the opening game of the Big 5 Classic, Temple won their first game of the season by beating Drexel, 57-48. Villanova beat La Salle 74-61 in the nightcap. Check out the Monday's sports section for comprehensive coverage of the weekend action.
