Villanova topples St. Joe’s, 88-68

Jeremiah Robinson-Earl put up another strong effort as Villanova emerged victorious over St. Joe’s on Saturday night.

Robinson-Earl’s 25 points led the charge in ‘Nova’s win over the Hawks, the ninth win in a row in this series for the good guys. The last time St. Joe’s was able to clip the Cats was all the way back on December 12, 2011. A lifetime ago it certainly seems, but the woes for St. Joe’s in the Holy War continued on Saturday night much to their dismay.

For much of the first half, the two sides exchanged blows. St. Joe’s went on an impressive 10-0 run that brought them a 15-14 lead. But that would turn out to be the largest - and only - lead that they’d hold the entire game. They kept things close, but the wheels would fall off towards the end of the first half. ‘Nova went on a 9-0 run to catapult them to a 39-28 lead with 1:12 remaining. ‘Nova took a 41-33 lead into the break, went went off from there.

St. Joe’s kept it within single digits, but Robinson-Earl scored five points in a row and then Justin Moore sent home a dunk to propel ‘Nova to a 15-point lead. Several minutes later, Villanova went on a 12-0 run to put them up 25, and they’d soon find themselves up 27 with 3:17 remaining in the game, their largest lead of the game.

Anyhow, back to Robinson-Earl. JRE also added seven rebounds, six assists, a block and a steal to his impressive line and he only committed one turnover in 32 minutes. He was not the only double-figure scorer however, as Caleb Daniels, Jermaine Samuels and the aforementioned Justin Moore joined him in that company, too. Daniels put up 19, Moore chipped in 18, and lastly, Samuels chipped in 12 with eight rebounds to go along.

St. Joe’s had three double-figure scorers on the night. Jordan Hall and Taylor Funk each put up 17 points, while Ryan Daly scored 11 of his own. Hall had a pretty strong night, with six rebounds, six assists and two steals to go with those 17 points. He, much like the rest of the Hawks, was just overwhelmed by the might of the Wildcats in this one.

Villanova is currently scheduled to face Marquette on Wednesday.