By Mary Cunningham
Don’t look now, but St. Joseph’s, which didn’t get many preseason rave notices, is starting too look like it could be a comer.
Yes, it was only Nov. 25, but last night’s 74-70 OT victory over LIU at Hagan Arena is just the kind of game that will hold Phil Martelli’s bunch in good stead in January and February.
DeAndre Bembry scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Isaiah Miles hit the game-winning shot in an NIT Season Tip-Off game.
Miles’ layup at 2:32 in overtime put the Hawks up 71-67 and Saint Joseph’s held off the Blackbirds, who had trailed 35-29 at halftime.
Aaron Brown scored 15 points — his fourth straight game in double figures — and Chris Wilson (photo above) added 13, including three 3-pointers, for the Hawks (3-2). James Demery added 11 points, including a 3-pointer with 3 seconds to play in regulation to send the game into overtime.
“Not only was it a tough shot, but he (Demery) had a tip-out offensive rebound, he had a big offensive rebound, and he was aggressive,” Martelli said. “He played a really, really good game against Vermont, defensively. Offensively, he hasn’t quite found a way, and that’s not really his shot. But, he did it with a little bit of something in his belly. And we didn’t really have enough of that. We didn’t have enough fire in the belly across the board.”
Nura Zanna and Iverson Fleming each scored 14 for LIU Brooklyn (0-2), Elvar Fridriksson added 12 and Joel Hernandez 10.
LIU Brooklyn rallied to lead 67-64 in the second half after two free throws by Fridriksson.
