St. Joseph's tops Princeton with balanced attack
All five Hawk starters score in double figures in 74-63 victory

Box Score

BERKELEY, CALIF. (11/16/01) - Senior Na'im Crenshaw led five Saint Joseph's double-figure scorers with 17 points to lift the Hawks to a 74-63 win over Princeton in the consolation game of the Black Coaches Association Classic. The win was the ninth-ranked Hawks' (1-1) first of the season while Princeton falls to 0-2.

		Jameer Nelson had 10 points and five assists as all five St. Joseph's starters reached double figures.

"It was all about defense tonight," said Crenshaw, who tallied all of his point after intermission. " We stop them, and hit our open shots we win the game. Their offense is not ordinary, that is a tough team to play."

"I think alot of credit goes to (asst. coach) Matt Brady," added SJU head coach Phil Martelli on the win. "He had me prepared to watch them last night.

"What we tried to do was pick out four of their sets, and what do they like to do off of their sets," he added on the breakdown of the Tigers. "We wanted to try and limit the backcut layups and challenge as many threes as we could."

Princeton's methodical offense and zone defense had the Hawks a little off-balance in the first half. SJU struggled from the perimeter, hitting just 2 of 12 from three-point range, while the Tigers' flourished from long distance, nailing six (of 12) treys.

But unlike the opener, the Hawks protected the ball, turning it over just six times in the opening 20 minutes (10 for the game), and pounded it inside to senior Damian Reid, who scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half. Still, the teams were deadlocked at intermission, 31-31.

Saint Joseph's started to get more in the flow offensively in the second half, using a 9-0 spurt to break a 42-all tie and pull out to a 51-42 lead with 9:34 remaining. Princeton closed to within five, 58-53, with a little over six minutes to play, but a three-pointer by freshman Delonte West (seven points) ignited a 9-2 run that put the game away.

"I thought this was the biggest challenge that I had emotionally with a team," said Martelli. ":Because when I talked to them last night, their eyes were vacant. They felt sorry for themselves.

"The (morning) shootaround was workmanlike. But I thought before the game they had good energy and we were going to be alright here."

"We just said we have to put it behind us," added team captain Bill Phillips. "If we kept our heads down we were going to leave here 0-2. It was a good test since we had to come right back after a dissappointing loss. and we responded."

Marvin O'Connor, who played a brilliant all-around game, finished with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Phillips added 11 and five boards while Jameer Nelson tallied 10 points and dished five assists.

Andre Logan led the Tigers with 13 points while Kyle Wente (seven assists) and Ahmed El-Nokali added 11 each.