AMHERST, Mass. – Saint Joseph’s hasn’t exactly been a second-half team this season, especially in Atlantic 10 play. They entered Sunday’s game at UMass with a 1-5 mark when trailing at the half and having lost all five times when they trailed with 10 minutes left in the game. Although they have outscored opponents in the second half on the season, the difference is only +9, compared to their +59 margin in the first half, and in Atlantic 10 games, they entered Sunday having been outscored in the second half.
So along with the game being on the road, the Hawks’ 68-64 win over the Minutemen was big for this team in several ways. The Hawks trailed by three at the half, thanks in part to getting caught up in the pace UMass was trying to play at in the early going, and with 10 minutes left, the Minutemen still had a three-point lead that they would stretch to five with under nine minutes to play. A decisive 13-2 Hawk run starting after UMass took its last lead at 56-54 closed the deal.
“All year, this team has talked to themselves about toughness and what it means on the road,” said head coach Phil Martelli. “I don’t think that was a great basketball effort, I think it was a great mental effort. The defense in the second half, to keep kind of scratching, and once we got the lead, the kind of bulldog mentality of holding onto that lead – I’m impressed with that, and it’s a good step for our team now with half the league season gone.”
Indeed, given that the Hawks have been outscored in the second half in Atlantic 10 games (Sunday’s game just dropped the differential by seven), it’s a little hard to imagine that they are now 7-1 and right on Xavier’s heels. But the Hawks, who had some growing pains in non-conference play as evidenced by their 7-7 mark, have come alive thanks largely to Ahmad Nivins, who Martelli said all along would be a key to this team.
Martelli said before the season that Nivins, who scored the first four points in the decisive run, needs to be in the Player of the Year conversation for this team to have a chance to contend. It’s safe to say that such is the case, as Nivins posted his ninth straight double-double on Sunday with 21 points and 12 rebounds and added three blocked shots. He leads the conference in rebounding and is second in scoring, not far behind Dionte Christmas of Temple in the latter category, but in Atlantic 10 games he leads in both categories and it’s not even close in rebounding.
In light of that, defenses are keying on him, especially inside. He’s always had a little ability to step away from the basket and hit, but Martelli wants him to do that a little more. Nivins did just that late in the game, swishing a jumper from right near the elbow in the final minutes. But they also need his support cast, which is a little limited after the starting lineup, to step up.
“I have not done a good job of coaching this team in halfcourt offense,” Martelli admitted. “It’s obvious that we have a horse, we have the Player of the Year in the league after eight games, and we’ve done a lot of wrinkles to throw him the ball. But we’ve had to now respond to people taking away our primary strength.”
While guards Tasheed Carr and Darrin Govens are scoring threats on the perimeter, one development that should help there is the improvement of sophomore Idris Hilliard, who was around his season averages with nine points and six rebounds on Sunday. Martelli was fine with those numbers since he also had to guard UMass’ Tony Gaffney, who can take a lot out of an opponent since his motor is always running. With Hilliard playing alongside Nivins, his improvement helps out more since it’s a little tougher to double Nivins inside. He was a bit player last year and among the holdovers the Hawks needed to make a jump this season, and he’s done just that.
“Idris has been a wonderful spark for us,” said Nivins. “He’s made some big-time plays, I thought he made two big-time plays today. I think his production is one of the reasons we’ve been successful.”
The other nice development for Saint Joseph’s among the supporters has been the steady improvement of Chris Prescott to become the first guard off the bench. The Hawks only play eight players more than eight minutes per game, and Prescott has come along nicely in Atlantic 10 play to give them something off the bench when they want to rest Carr or Govens.
On Sunday, Dayton’s loss at Charlotte allowed Saint Joseph’s to move into second place in the Atlantic 10 with a 7-1 mark. Bigger than the win and where they are in the standings is how they won on Sunday, as well as the continued development of key support players for Nivins. They might not become a second-half team the rest of the way, but their effort in the latter frame on Sunday is a step forward for a team hoping to make another conference run.
