Label or not, St. Joe’s win over La Salle had all the hallmarks of a Big 5 game. Just ask Billy Lange and Fran Dunphy.
"It’s a typical city game these days, a typical Atlantic 10 game," Dunphy said. And one in which Erik Reynolds II reached the 2,000-point milestone.
St. Joseph’s and La Salle already played this season, but coach Billy Lange wasn’t concerned about the previous win over the Explorers, in the Big 5 Classic title game on Dec. 7.
The Hawks didn’t discuss that game. They didn’t watch film. They just focused on Wednesday’s Atlantic 10 conference game because Lange knew the teams would see each other at least once more.
Still, the familiarity helped in the Hawks’ 75-63 win on Wednesday.
“All that really mattered was this one today, I think where the familiarity helps us is just understanding how competitive the La Salle-St Joe’s game is,” Lange said. “It’s always been that way.”
Lange knows who the Explorers are. “They’re scrappy, they’re tough,” Lange said.
Explorers coach Fran Dunphy knows who the Hawks are. “They’re confident, and they’re confident at the right time,” Dunphy said.
So, even though Lange wasn’t focusing on past games, the Big 5 history was still present.
“La Salle is always a battle. It’s St Joe’s. It’s a Big 5 game. I don’t care if they label it a Big 5 game or not, it’s a Big 5 game,” Lange said.
And like any Big 5 game, it was gritty.
La Salle’s defense limited St. Joe’s to just 29.4% shooting in the first half. But the Hawks (15-9, 6-5 Atlantic 10) stepped on the gas in the second half and shot 59.3% to erase their seven-point halftime deficit.
A big part of that was senior Erik Reynolds II. With his 10th point in the game 19 seconds into the second half, Reynolds became the second Hawk to reach 2,000 points and the 19th Big 5 player to do so. Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds in 2010 was the last to do it.
“Erik Reynolds [has] been a transformational human being for the program,” Lange said. “A lot of the people that are in that locker room and a lot of the staff members have been attracted to the program because of the things that Erik does, because of the type of person that he is. He’s just amazing. So it’s great that he reached that milestone. And those are some really big names and numbers.”
Reynolds had a streaky start to the season. He started out scoring a season-high 29 points, then recorded a season-low five points the next game. He had games in which he looked and played like himself, but he couldn’t string many together. Until now.
In his last six games, Reynolds is averaging 20.3 points. He finished with 22 points against La Salle. He also led the team in rebounding for the second time this season with seven. Reynolds is now 82 points away from reaching Jameer Nelson’s program scoring record.
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“It feels good to get back in a little groove. Really, I just had to take a step back and not think about too far in the future,” Reynolds said. “But really, it came down to just like the consistent trust in the coaching staff and my teammates. They always had confidence in me, so feeling that every day in practice, whether it’s like a game, every time they instill that confidence in me, I just go get it. It puts an extra battery in my pack.”
Freshman Deuce Jones paced the Explorers (12-13, 4-8) with 22 points and nine rebounds.
“I mean, Deuce was great tonight,” Dunphy said. “He did a number of terrific, terrific things, and even getting to the foul line on eight for nine is pretty impressive, and he had nine rebounds. So I was very pleased with how he played.”
Sophomore Xzayvier Brown finished closely behind Reynolds with 21 points, while Rasheer Fleming went 3 for 3 from the field and tallied eight points. Two fouls in the first five minutes of the game and a third before the end of the first half led to the junior forward playing only 11 minutes.
While the Explorers didn’t have the same offensive output as the Hawks, Dunphy thinks there was something to learn from the game, especially because St. Joe’s and La Salle aren’t done with each other yet this season. The teams have one last conference showdown in the regular-season finale on March 8 (2:30 p.m., USA) at John Glaser Arena.
“Each game takes on a different personality, and this was real hard-fought,” Dunphy said. “Again, I thought our defense was pretty good, for the most part. Our offense hasn’t been great, but I did think we made some really good plays and a couple of tough shots. It’s a typical city game, these days, a typical Atlantic 10 game. And I think we learned some things about ourselves tonight, so I’m proud of our effort.”
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