BOX SCORE
St. Joes bounced back in a huge way on Saturday by hammering Big 5 rival Penn at the Palestra, 79-59.
The Hawks fed off the home crowd (the contest was a home game on the schedule for St. Joes) to capture their 10th win of the season and move on from a tough overtime loss to No. 22 VCU earlier in the week.
Penn (3-14) dropped its first game since snapping its eight-game skid with a win over NJIT on Thursday.
Turning point
The Hawks were sleepwalking through much of the first half before finally finding a groove.
With the score tied at 17 and 7:08 remaining in the half, the Hawks imposed their will during an 11-0 spurt. Playmakers Carl Jones and Langston Galloway drained jumpers, while the entire team locked the Quakers down on defense.
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The Hawks held the Quakers without a point for 5:21 of game time as they finished the half on a 15-4 run to put the game out of reach.
Big man on campus
St. Joe's was led by monster efforts from Galloway (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Ronald Roberts (16 points, 12 rebounds). Jones added 15 points.
Despite not showing up much on the stat sheet, St. Joes guard Evan Maschmeyer was vital for the Hawks. He came off the bench with high energy and helped spark the big first-half run.
Darien Nelson-Henry had a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds for Penn.
Inside the box score
St. Joes shot 53.7 percent from the field, including 40.7 from beyond the arc.
Penn was dismal from the two lines. The Quakers shot 5 of 14 from the free throw line and 4 for 21 from three-point range.
The Hawks recorded eight blocks in the game.
Rivalry renewed
Saturdays matchup was the 81st all-time meeting between the two schools. St. Joes leads the series, 47-34.
Penn had won the previous two matchups between the city rivals.
Missing pieces
Both squads were without key players on Saturday. St. Joes junior forward Halil Kanacevic missed a third straight game because of a death in the family. Meanwhile, Penn junior forward and leading scorer Fran Dougherty missed a seventh consecutive game with mononucleosis.
Suits and sneakers
The Quakers coaching staff wore sneakers during the game for the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers awareness weekend. The event actually will be held from Jan. 25-27, but Penn doesnt have any games during that span.
Coaches vs. Cancer helps raise awareness about the disease and promotes the American Cancer Society as a place for people to turn for support.
Whats next?
St. Joes will return to Hagan Arena on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tilt against St. Bonaventure.
Penn also returns to the court on Wednesday, capping off its Big 5 slate in a 7 p.m. matchup at Temple.
E-mail Matt Haughton at mhaughton@comcastsportsnet.com