Saint Joseph's ended their non-conference slate for the 2012-13 season by coasting to a 79-59 victory over the Pennsylvania Quakers at The Palestra on Saturday evening.
The Hawks struggled during part of the first half as they went nearly four minutes before Ronald Roberts converted a lay-up for Saint Joseph's first field goal of the contest.
Saint Joseph's (10-6) would go on an 9-0 run just a couple moments later with Daryus Quarles coming off of the bench to convert a traditional three-point play before Carl Jones knocked down two shots from beyond the arc to give the Hawks a 15-8 lead with 11:50 left in the opening half.
Over the next four minutes Penn (3-14) would counter with a 9-2 run of their own and a lay-up by Patrick Lucas-Perry tied the game at 17 with a little under eight minutes to play in the first half.
Saint Joseph's established control during the rest of the first half however as they used a 15-4 run, buoyed by six points on two three-pointers by Langston Galloway, to take a 32-21 lead into the locker room.
Another player whose contribution probably would not show up on the stat-sheet was Evan Maschmeyer, who playing in only his second game of the season, made two key assists while also coming up with a steal on the defensive end to provide a steadying influence off of the Saint Joseph's bench.
Saint Joseph's led by double-digits throughout the second half as Penn would never cut the lead to less than 11 points. It was exactly the type of win the Hawks needed after a tough loss less than 48 hours earlier at VCU.
Even rarely used guards Taylor Trevisan and Christopher Coyne were able to get into the act late in the game with the pair both hitting three-pointers in the closing stages for the Hawks, bringing about rapturous applause from the Saint Joseph's faithful.
Galloway led the Hawks with 20 points in the victory while Roberts had a solid effort on the interior, posting another double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Jones was improved from the free throw line during the contest and ended with 15 points in Saint Joseph's tenth victory of the season.
But perhaps the most satisfying aspect of the game for Phil Martelli and the Hawks coaching staff was the added influence from the Saint Joseph's bench players once again. Quarles scored 7 points in his third straight solid performance while Maschmeyer also gave the Hawks valuable minutes.
"I think a guy that didn't score that had an impact on the game was Evan Maschmeyer, Daryus Quarles certainly had an impact on the game in the first half as well," Martelli said after the game.
This was all while Halil Kanacevic missed his third consecutive game while mourning the loss of his uncle in Montenegro. When Kanacevic does return for the Hawks, the Hawks bench, which has been a weakness so far, could become a useful tool for Martelli during the rest of the conference slate.
Darien Nelson-Henry led Penn with 17 points and showed some glimpses into his potential as the freshman big-man made some impressive power moves against both Roberts and C.J. Aiken over the course of the forty minutes.
Saint Joseph's is next in action on Wednesday evening at Hagan Arena as they take on the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, who are coming off of their first Atlantic 10 win of the season after knocking off Temple 81-78 on Saturday afternoon. It was the first road win for the Bonnies at Temple in school history. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
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