Villanova vs. St. Joe’s 2018: Wildcats defeat Hawks 70-58

The Villanova Wildcats continue their dominance of Philadelphia Big 5 basketball with a 70-58 victory over the St. Joe’s Hawks at home in the Finn.

‘Nova’s 25-consecutive game winning streak in the Big 5 only truly felt threatened closer to the final minutes of the second half. With eight minutes left in the game, St. Joe’s began to tear through into a shocking 16-0 run. Starting their streak down 22 points, the Hawks managed to whittle Villanova’s lead down to a mere six points.

St. Joe’s squad continued their run until approximately the two-minute mark, up until Wildcats senior Phil Booth dropped a three-pointer to squash the Hawks’ uninterrupted attack. While St. Joe’s responded with a lay-up of their own, sophomore Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree splashed extra points to cushion Villanova’s lead back to double-digits.

With star player Charlie Brown, Jr. out with an ankle injury, junior Lamarr Kimble stepped up for the Hawks, putting up a game-high 22 points. Villanova’s senior players lead shooting for the Wildcats—Eric Paschall scored 14 points, while Phil Booth and Joe Cremo each shot 12 points.

Villanova only marginally out-shot St. Joe’s field goal percentage, with the Wildcats shooting 37% compared to the Hawks’ 34%. Interestingly, out of Villanova’s 63 total shots, 43 were attempted three-pointers. While ‘Nova clearly intended for it to rain from the three-point line, only 30% of the shots were successful.

Villanova moves on to play their final Big 5 game of the season, meeting Penn at the Palestra on Tuesday, Dec. 11th.