#4 Seed Saint Joseph’s Hawks 67 #9 Seed Saint Bonaventure Bonnies 48
A great second half defensive effort and a monster game from senior forward Halil Kanacevic propelled the Saint Joseph’s Hawks into the Atlantic 10 final with a 67 – 48 win over the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The Hawks held the Bonnies to 16.7% shooting (4 for 24) in the second half winning the stanza by a 38 – 19 score. Kanacevic scored 26 points and pulled down 17 rebounds. Saint Joseph’s last appeared in the championship game in 2008.
The teams entered the locker room at halftime tied at 29. St. Bonaventure took an early 32 – 31 lead. The Hawks responded by going on a 15 – 1 run to break out to a 46 – 33 lead. The advantage would stretch to 21 points late in the second half. Saint Joe’s held the Bonnies on defense, and hot from the floor making 52.2% (12 for 23) of their shots. Senior guard Langston Galloway scored 18 points in the game, 16 in the second half.
Kanacevic made 8 of 12 field goal attempts en route to his point total. He now has surpassed 1,000 career rebounds. Senior forward Ronald Roberts scored 12 points and took down 8 rebounds.
The Hawks strengthened their NCAA Tournament resume with the victory. A win the championship game against VCU will give Saint Joseph’s an automatic bid the “Big Dance.”
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