BOX SCORE
The offensive effort of Langston Galloway and Ronald Roberts kept the Saint Josephs Hawks competitive throughout their meeting with the Saint Louis Billikens.
But all the character in the world and the pairs 29 combined points couldnt silence Saint Louis shooter Cody Ellis, who hit five second-half three pointers to lift the Billikens to a 72-60 win over the Hawks on Wednesday night at Hagan Arena.
Ellis finished with a game-high 20 points.
I think there was a little too much space, Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. Our scouting report said to make (Ellis) bounce the ball and he didnt have many dribbles tonight. A guy like that tees it up, he did it two years ago as a freshman and he did it tonight.
The contest was a tough matchup for the Hawks, as the Billikens sit just behind Temple University at 7-3 in the Atlantic 10 standings and 19-5 overall. Meanwhile, the Hawks fall deeper into the muddled middle with a 5-5 conference record. They are now 15-10 overall.
It was a big test for us and we wanted to win it, Galloway said. Theyre at the top of the league and we failed the test tonight.
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Saint Joseph's entered the second half trailing by just two, after storming back from down as much as 12 in the first. But, with the inability to gain more than a two-point advantage and by turning the ball over with flair, Martellis club could only watch as Ellis began to pick them apart.
The Billikens in the second half shot 52 percent from the field and 70 percent from three.
Look, we played a quality opponent tonight, said Martelli. But were home and we should have had more of a fire. We tip-toed a little bit early on and even when it got tied."
With a pair of threes at the 7:50 and 7:07 marks, and by burying three more down the stretch, Ellis gave the Billikens a 12-point second-half lead. No matter how hard the Hawks fought back, they could not overcome the barrage of three-pointers.
He hit some big threes, Galloway said. "There's no question."
From the opening tip, the Hawks were trailing. Stumbling early, they were unable to counter during the Billikens 12-0 run to open the game. But once the baskets started falling for the Hawks, their first coming at 14:39 on a tip-in from Ronald Roberts, the hosts began to turn the momentum in their favor.
Holding the Billikens scoreless for nearly six minutes following the early run, the Hawks climbed to within five at 9:25 on a mid-range jumper from Carl Jones. Led by Galloway and Roberts team-leading eight first-half points, the Hawks tied the game at 17 and again at 21. But they were never able to break away.
The start of the game came back and bit us, said Martelli. But there were four occasions when the game was tied and they scored the next possession. We have to look and see where the breakdowns were and be better on Thursday.
Galloway finished with a team-high 15 and Roberts ended with 14.
Once the Hawks ripped the lead away from the Billikens at 2:53 in the first half, on a strong layup in traffic by Roberts to make it 23-21, the visitors regained the advantage, getting a pair of three-pointers from Kwamain Mitchell and Rob Loe to finish the half up 29-27.
We just werent good enough, Martelli said.