Game Info: Saturday, March 8, 2025 - 2:30 p.m. Location: Glaser Arena - Philadelphia, Pa. TV: USA | Listen: sjuhawks.com | Live Stats: sjuhawks.com | Saint Joseph's Game Notes | La Salle Game Notes
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Opening Tip The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team wraps the regular season with a trip to Olney to face Big 5 rival La Salle on Saturday, March 8. Tipoff from Glaser Arena is scheduled for 2:30 with the game airing on USA.
Alone At The Top Erik Reynolds II became Saint Joseph's career scoring leader with 22 points against Rhode Island on Wednesday. He currently sits at 2,114 points heading into the regular season finale at La Salle. With his third point of the night, coming on a trey at the 3:14 mark of the first half, he passed former National Player of the Year Jameer Nelson (2000-04), who amassed 2,094 points in his Hawks' tenure. Nelson had the record for 21 seasons after passing Bernard Blunt (1990-95). Both Nelson and Blunt were in attendance at the game.
More Hills To Climb While he has now scored the most points ever for SJU men's basketball, Reynolds isn't done writing his name into the record books. The Temple Hills, Md. product enters Saturday's game with 341 career three-pointers. He is two away from tying and three from passing Langston Galloway (2011-14) for the most triples in program history. The pair are the only two Saint Joseph's players with 300 or more in their careers.
With One Game To Go... Beyond its historical aspect, Wednesday's win against Rhode Island was crucial as it kept the Hawks in the mix for one of the four double bye spots in the conference tournament. Currently, SJU, Dayton and Loyola Chicago are all tied at 11-6. Only two of the teams will get the double bye. For St. Joe's to earn a top-4 seed, it must win on Saturday and see either Dayton lose to VCU on Friday or Loyola fall at UMass on Saturday. Saint Joseph's can earn the No. 3 seed with a win and losses by both Dayton and Loyola. The A-10 Championship begins on March 12 at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. Based on the conference standings, the Hawks are guaranteed to not play a First Round game and the earliest they could start would be in the Second Round on March 13.
A Change Will Do You Good For the game against Saint Louis on February 7, the Hawks made their first non-injury related change to the starting lineup all season, inserting Anthony Finkley into the opening rotation. In the eight games since, St. Joe's has gone 7-1 with the only loss being a one-point setback at then conference leader George Mason. Since the change, SJU is shooting 39 points better from the field and has turned the ball over 1.2 times less per contest. In particular, Xzayvier Brown has seen his numbers increase in the eight games, scoring 19.1 points an outing while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 40.5 percent from three-point range.
Coming Into His Own Finkley himself has benefited from being put in the starting lineup, particularly in the last two games. The sophomore has recorded career best scoring totals in consecutive contests with 15 at Fordham before putting up 18 against Rhode Island. It is the first time in his career that he has scored in double figures in back-to-back games. Overall, he is averaging 8.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as a starter, up from 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in a reserve role.
20-20 Vision The victory against Rhode Island was the 20th of the season for the Hawks. It is the 24th time in program history Saint Joseph's has won 20 or more games in a season. Combined with a 21-14 record last year, St. Joe's has hit the mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2003-04 and 2004-05 when the team collected 30 and 24 victories, respectively. It is the eighth time that SJU has earned 20+ wins in back-to-back years.
Into The Top 10 Justice Ajogbor continues to make opposing teams question their thoughts of driving to the basket as he blocked another five shots against Fordham last Saturday. Overall, he has 68 swats on the year and moved the Benin City, Nigeria native into ninth place on the Hawks' single-season block list, passing Alex Sazonov (65 - 2000-01) and Tony Costner (66 - 1981-82). Fordham was third time this season he has blocked five shots in a game, matching his totals against Loyola Chicago (2/1/25) and Richmond (2/22/25). He is one of three players with five blocks in game three or more times in a season in the past 20 years at SJU, joining C.J. Aiken and Dwayne Jones. Overall, Ajogbor has 13 games this season with three or more blocks, tied for eighth nationally, and is posting 2.94 BPG in A-10 play.
Scouting Report La Salle enters play 12-18 overall with a 4-13 record in the Atlantic 10 and is coming off a 69-62 loss at George Mason on Wednesday. The Explorers have fallen on hard times, dropping eight in a row.
Graduate transfer Corey McKeithan leads the offense at 14.8 points per game. Two other players score in double figures with Deuce Jones posting 12.1 a contest and Daeshon Shepherd scoring 10.4. Jahlil White tops the team at 6.3 rebounds per game. Jones has 80 assists.
La Salle has made good use of the transfer portal as McKeithan (Rider), White (Temple) and Mac Ettienne (UCLA/DePaul) have combined for 40.4 percent of the Explorers scoring and 38.3 percent of the team's rebounds.
While the portal may have provided an immediate veteran boost, Jones has been a bright spot for La Salle, earning A-10 Rookie of the Week honors a league-high six times, including four since the start of conference play.
The Explorers will give up their share of points, ranking in 12th in the A-10 in points allowed per game at 74.8. Opponents are also shooting 45.7 percent against La Salle, 14th in the conference.
One of the most revered coaches in college basketball history, Fran Dunphy is in his third season as the head coach of his alma mater and his 30th year as a collegiate mentor overall. He enters Saturday with 623 career wins and is one of 46 men's basketball coaches with more than 600 victories at the Division I level.
All-Time Series The Hawks hold a 73-58 series advantage against the Explorers. 131 matchups between SJU and La Salle are the second most in St. Joe's history behind 165 games against Temple. The Explorers are Saint Joseph's oldest opponent, as the teams met in the second ever game in SJU program history in 1909.
Last Time Against La Salle Erik Reynolds II became the second player in Saint Joseph's men's basketball history with 2,000 career points as the Hawks pulled away late to defeat the La Salle Explorers 75-63 on February 12, 2025. Reynolds topped SJU with 22 points while Xzayvier Brown contributed 21. St, Joe's trailed 31-24 at the break before shooting better than 59 percent in the second half, outscoring the Explorers 51-33 in the final 20 minutes.
Up Next Saint Joseph's begins its postseason run in the Atlantic 10 Championship. The date and time of the Hawks' first game will be determined based on the outcome of games on Friday and Saturday. The opponent is based on results in the First and possibly Second Rounds.