WASHINGTON (AP) — Jack Clark had 20 points and 13 rebounds as 12th-seeded La Salle topped 13th-seeded Saint Joseph’s 63-56 in the Atlantic 10 Championship opener Wednesday at Capital One Arena.
Teammate Clifton Moore posted 19 points and four blocks for La Salle (11-18), which moves on to the Second Round to battle fifth-seeded Saint Louis on Thursday afternoon.
"Honestly, going into today's game, we were feeding off the momentum of coming in on a three game winning streak, and us playing St. Joe's, a hometown rival, that was a big way to cap off the regular season," Clark said. "So just going into today's game and being prepared was a really good thing for us."
For the Hawks (11-19), Charles Coleman paced the team with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Ejike Obinna added 14 points and 14 rebounds. Jordan Hall had 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
The Explorers dominated virtually the entire first half before heading into the break up by 12 points, holding an advantage over SJU for all save two narrow margins during the opening sequence. The Hawks, however, fought back late against their inter-Philly rivals, pulling within one point with just over six minutes remaining in regulation.
"I'm proud of this group for their endurance," Saint Joseph's head coach Billy Lange said. "I'm proud of this group for their spirit. I'm proud of this group for continuing to get better, and I do believe we were playing our best basketball here the last three and a half weeks of the season, but there's a fine line between being able to do that and win."
Overall, La Salle exacerbated Hawks turnovers consistently, scoring 11 points off 14 SJU miscues, and managed to keep up with the Saint Joseph's inside scoring (trailed SJU 26 points to 22 inside the paint). The Explorers also attacked Saint Joseph's in transition, picked up 11 points in the fast break.