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Big 5 Classic Central: St. Joe's claim back-to-back Big 5 title; Villanova trounces Temple and Drexel tops Penn for fifth

The latest updates, news, and more surrounding the second annual Big 5 Classic at the Wells Fargo Center

St. Joseph's celebrates after defeating La Salle in the championship game of the Big 5 Classic on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.
St. Joseph's celebrates after defeating La Salle in the championship game of the Big 5 Classic on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.Read more
Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
What to know
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  1. For the second year in a row, St. Joseph's captured the Big 5 Classic championship, this time following an 82-68 win over La Salle at the Wells Fargo Center.

  2. Drexel beat Penn, 60-47, in the fifth-place game, Villanova defeated Temple, 94-65, for third place. La Salle will challenge defending Big 5 champs St. Joseph's in the final at 7 p.m. All games will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

  3. On the women's side, it was Temple who was crowned champion inside Villanova's Finneran Pavilion on Friday night in the inaugural women's Big 5 Classic.

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St. Joe's defends its Big 5 title, downs La Salle, 82-68

St. Joe’s defended its Big 5 title for their second consecutive win under the new format with an 82-68 win over La Salle as chants of “The Hawk Will Never Die” echoed throughout the Wells Fargo Center.

Senior Erik Reynolds II led St. Joe’s with 23 points, and sophomore Xzayvier Brown added 21 points and six assists. Junior Rasheer Fleming finished with nine points but ended the game with 10 rebounds.

Explorers were led by freshman Deuce Jones who scored 18 points off the bench. Fifth-year Corey McKeithan followed with 15 points while putting up seven rebounds for La Salle, second to junior Mac Etienne, who grabbed eight.

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Meet the 2024 Big 5 Hall of Fame class

The Big 5 Hall of Fame inducted six new members at halftime of the championship game.

The 2024 honorees include former La Salle’s John Giannini, Penn’s Ira Bowman, Temple’s LaKeisha Eaddy, Saint Joseph's Amy Facer, Villanova's Courtney Mix, and former Inquirer college sports writer Mike Jensen.

Bowman played guard at Penn from 1994-1996 under current La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy. He also served as a Penn assistant from 2012-2018 before taking on the assistant role he currently holds at Auburn.

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How did La Salle get to tonight's Big 5 Classic title game?

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A little 'Exploration' into tonight's championship game...

St. Joe’s (5-3) looks to defend their title from last year while bouncing back from a 77-69 loss against Princeton Tuesday night. La Salle (6-3) is also coming off a loss after dropping a road game 82-68 to Northeastern.

But an interesting note: The Explorers are competing for their first Big 5 title since the 2012-13 season and their first outright title since the 1989-90 season.

Mia Messina

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Expect to see the pairings change in next year's Big 5 Classic

After the first two years of the group-stage-and-final Big 5 Classic tournament format, the arrangement of the groups will change next year.

Penn women’s coach Mike McLaughlin hinted at it Friday night’s women’s tripleheader, Drexel men’s coach Zach Spiker hinted at it during Saturday’s men’s tripleheader, and another source confirmed it to The Inquirer later in the day.

Villanova, Temple, and La Salle will be in one pod, and St. Joseph’s, Penn, and Drexel will be in the other. The current format of each team playing one home game will continue, with each matchup alternating venues each year.

Jonathan Tannenwald

» READ MORE: Expect to see changes in the Big 5 Classic group pairings next season

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Villanova cruises to win over Temple for third place

Villanova won third place in the Big 5 Classic with a 94-65 victory over Temple.

The Wildcats had strong shooting, finishing 58.5% from the field and 63.3% in three pointers. Graduate forward Eric Dixon led the team with 24 points.

The Owls couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up, even with numerous opportunities from the foul line. Villanova committed 25 personal fouls in contrast to Temple’s 17, but the Owls made 18 of 29 free throws.

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All Villanova at the half

Villanova guard Wooga Poplar has been all over the stat sheet in the first half, slamming home his 11th point as the first half expired.

The Wildcats went into the break up 45-29. Villanova forward Eric Dixon led all scorers with 13 points on 4-for-6 shooting, including 2 of 3 from three. Temple's Jamal Mashburn Jr. has 12 points on 40% shooting, and forward Steve Settle III added nine and two assists.

Villanova shot nearly 60% from the field as a team, including going 8-14 from three. The Owls made just nine of their 30 attempts in the first half. Temple forced seven turnovers compared to Villanova's three, but the Owls couldn't capitalize on their opportunities.

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Temple fans call 'Nova out

Temple's student section was going in on Villanova. The post above was the first of two banners spotted during the third-place game between the two schools.

Earlier, the section debuted its first rollout of the afternoon with a banner that read, "6th in the Big 5?" It was a knock on the Wildcats' sixth-place finish in the first-ever Big 5 Classic last year, after they fell to Drexel in the fifth-place game.

Tough crowd.

Sam O'Neal

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Villanova has the early surge, but Temple digs deep

After Villanova led by as many as 13 points halfway through the first half, a 6-0 Temple run cut the lead to just six points.

Owls' freshman guard Aiden Tobiason, who has rarely seen game action so far this season, was one of the first players off the bench and provided strong defense to cut the deficit.

At the first media timeout, the Wildcats only leads by eight with seven minutes remaining in the first.

Sam O'Neal

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Temple-Villanova tips off

Temple and Villanova tipped off its third-place matchup just after 4:30 p.m.

The Owls (4-3) have lost three of their last four, including falling 83-75 to La Salle in their last game. Coach Adam Fisher opted not to start guard Quante Berry, instead going with Shane Dezonie in the opening minutes.

The Wildcats (5-4) have won their last two games after struggling to open the year. They entered as favorites in the matchup. 

— Declan Landis

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Drexel downs Penn, 60-47, to take fifth-place

Drexel has claimed fifth place in the Big 5 for the second year in a row, beating Penn by a final score of 60-47.

The Dragon's victory was a quintessential team win, as 10 players saw game action and eight contributed points. The Dragons’s Big 3 of Cole Hargrove (17 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks), Kobe MaGee (12 points, 5 rebounds), and Yame Butler (10 points, 4 rebounds) all had strong games.

Drexel overcame going a brutal 3-14 from deep as they were really able to expose Penn down low. Hargrove, in particular, was giving the Quakers fits down low on both ends of the court, continuing what has been a strong season so far for the junior center.

Paulie Loscalzo

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Dragons take over lead

Midway through the second half, it has been all Dragons.

Drexel is currently leading Penn, 46-36, after coming out of the locker room tied. Shooting woes are to blame for the Quakers, who have made 3 of 15 shots from the floor so far in the second half.

— Conor Smith

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Penn-Drexel halftime report

Penn and Drexel are battling it out through the first half as the game stands 30-30.

The Quakers are leaning on their only returning starters from last season, senior center Nick Spinoso and sophomore guard Sam Brown. Both have recorded 8 points through the first.

Notably, Spinoso appeared to have rolled his ankle in the beginning minutes of the match, jogging gingerly down the court. He has since checked back into the game.

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The crowd at tipoff is sparse, to put it politely

There was a time in this millennium, even though that's become a while now, when a Penn-Drexel game could draw a good 5-6,000 to the Palestra.

Alas, when the Quakers and Dragons tipped off at just after 2 p.m., it looked like you could fit the crowd at the 21,000-seat Wells Fargo Center into Drexel's 2,500-seat Daskalasis Athletic Center at the Palestra.

They're throwing streamers after each team's first basket like the old days, a nice touch. But when Penn scored the game's first points, maybe two dozen streamers flew out of the sparse Quakers student section.

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Drexel fans arrive for Big 5 Classic

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Penn students fill in at Wells Fargo Center

Penn students are flowing in for the men's Big 5 Classic. The tournament tips off at 2 p.m., with Penn facing Drexel first.

"I've been here for Sixers games, but I've never sat nearly as close to the court," said Penn student Luke Williams. "This is really cool to see, especially watching my school play today."

— Conor Smith

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Drexel warms up ahead of its game against Penn

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The inaugural women's Big 5 Classic, in photos

In the aftermath of Temple being crowned champions following a 76-62 win over Villanova, check out scenes from the inaugural women's Big 5 Classic on Friday through the imagery of Inquirer photographer Chip Fox.

» READ MORE: Temple claims inaugural women’s Big 5 Classic title with 76-62 win over Villanova

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A Big 5 final full of surprises

The reigning Big 5 champs have, at times, looked like a force to be reckoned with as the trio of Erik Reynolds (14.4 ppg., 3.3 rpg.), and Xzayvier Brown (15.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg.) pose a handful for even top teams to stop.

However, few would have predicted La Salle, who will take on the Hawks in the championship game on Saturday (8 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia) to be in this position.

However, head coach Fran Dunphy’s team has been impressive so far this season, led by transfer graduate guard Corey McKeithan, who is playing the best basketball of his career averaging nearly 20 points (19.2 points per game).

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'This group is still forming'

While Billy Lange hopes to experience the euphoria of winning the Big 5 Classic again, St. Joseph's head coach knows it won't be easy.

With six first-year players and four sophomores, St. Joe’s (5-3) is the youngest team in the Atlantic 10 and might be the youngest team in this year's tournament. The Hawks have two juniors, one senior, Erik Reynolds II, and a fifth-year player.

Of those four upperclassmen, two transferred into the program this year and have entered the starting five alongside Reynolds, sophomore Xzayvier Brown, and junior Rasheer Fleming.

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Don't sleep on La Salle

While this year's team is much different from last year's squad, the Explorers have been known to bring the excitement to this tournament. One team that won't soon forget are the Quakers, who were on the latter end of a 93-92 final in overtime after former La Salle guard Khalil Brantley hit the shot of the tournament at the buzzer.

Kerith Gabriel