Poor shooting from Saint Joseph’s (20-10) and limited Rhode Island (17-12) turnovers kept it close in the first half, but lights-out shooting from the Hawks and eight Rams turnovers in seven minutes sealed a 91-74 win for St. Joseph’s.
It was a slow start for the Hawks, maybe because it was senior night, or because Joel Embiid was courtside, or it was the anticipation around fourth-year Erik Reynolds II. As Reynolds closes in on the end of his collegiate career, he picked up his most impressive accolade – the all-time leading scorer in St. Joe’s history, surpassing Jameer Nelson’s record of 2,094. It was a celebratory moment for the program as Nelson was courtside with legendary 76er Embiid, and the Hawks extended their winning streak to five games.
As for the game, it was a pretty typical one for Rhode Island. The Rams kept it close early on and even led by as much as nine points. Rhode Island limited themselves to just two first-half turnovers and held the Hawks to 32.1% from the field. However, even these factors weren’t enough to give the Rams a lead heading into the half as the Hawks went on a 15-6 run in the final 5:50. Rhode Island lost their lead with 1:40 left in the first half, and St. Joe’s never looked back.
Reynolds led the Hawks offense with 22 points and five assists despite shooting 4 of 15 from the field and only scoring seven first-half points. Other Hawks who stepped up include second-year Xzayvier Brown, who had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists. Second-year Anthony Finkley joined Brown, his high school teammate. The second half of the Roman Catholic connection finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds and two steals. Finkley set a new career high in the second game in a row. Rounding out this balanced offense was third-year Rasheer Fleming, the best NBA prospect in the A-10, who finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Three of these four guys scored 10 or more points in the second half, where the Hawks outscored 53-38.
As a team, the Hawks dominated the battle of second-chance points and points off turnovers. While St. Joe’s only had three offensive rebounds, they still scored 16 second-chance points compared to Rhode Island’s eight. The larger margin was in the turnover battle; once again, the Rams were on the losing side. The Rams had 14 total turnovers, 11 in the second half, that led to 22 points for St. Joe’s.
This loss marked Rhode Island’s fourth straight, their longest such streak of the season. The Rams now find themselves 11th in the A-10, exactly where the A-10 preseason poll had Rhode Island.
Surprisingly, the Rams had five players score over 10 points, yet none of them scored more than 15. Fourth-year Sebastion Thomas again spearheaded Rhode Island, finishing with 15 points and five assists. Despite these numbers, it wasn’t a complete game for the Rams leading scorer; Thomas shot 6 of 14 from the field and had five turnovers. It’s the fifth time Thomas has had five or more turnovers. Outside of Thomas, the only other notable performance was second-year Cam Estevez, going for 11 points and three rebounds in just 14 minutes off the bench. It was just the fourth time that Estevez reached 10 or more points following a freshman campaign where he scored 7.1 points per game and shot 41.9% from 3.
As a team, the Rams had 14 turnovers to 10 assists; Rhode Island has now had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio in half of its A-10 games. In conference play the Rams have the worst assist-to-turnover ratio in the A-10 at 0.92; the only other school below one is George Mason (23-7). Although these two teams have the same ratio in the playmaking department, there is something about these teams that couldn’t be more different, and that’s the defense. While George Mason ranks 12th in the nation, Rhode Island is near the bottom at 265th, allowing 74.9 points per game. This loss to St. Joe’s marks the second straight game the Rams have allowed 91 points. Over their last three games, the Rams are allowing 89 points per game, the ninth worst in the nation.
Following this win, St. Joe’s is solidly in the mix to land a double-bye; for Rhode Island, this loss guarantees they’ll be playing on Day 1 of the A-10 Tournament for the fourth year in a row.
The Hawks will end their season with a Big Five matchup against La Salle (12-18). While nothing in sports is a guarantee, this is certainly a favorable matchup for a team on the cusp of landing a double-bye. Rhode Island will end their season at home with a chance for revenge against Fordham (11-19) at 2 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN+.
