On Wednesday night, Chris Wilson would lace up his shoes for one last time for a game at Hagan Arena.
A solid career for the Saint Joseph’s point guard is winding down, but he made sure to leave a lasting impression in his final home game.
Wilson would keep the Hawks in the game early, before icing the game with a late three and scoring 22 points in all, in Saint Joseph’s 55-50 win over La Salle.
“Chris had a chance,” Saint Joseph’s Coach Phil Martelli said. “Tonight, he had it going in the beginning or we would’ve had like 10 points at half.”
A solid career for the Saint Joseph’s point guard is winding down, but he made sure to leave a lasting impression in his final home game.
Wilson would keep the Hawks in the game early, before icing the game with a late three and scoring 22 points in all, in Saint Joseph’s 55-50 win over La Salle.
“Chris had a chance,” Saint Joseph’s Coach Phil Martelli said. “Tonight, he had it going in the beginning or we would’ve had like 10 points at half.”
Wilson certainly did have it going, hitting four early threes and scoring 13 of the Hawks’ fist 17 points, as Saint Joseph’s jumped out to a 17-11 lead.
“As a basketball player, when you see the first couple [shots] go down, you feel better, and my teammates just did a great job of finding me,” Wilson said. “And my teammates are threats, so sometimes that gives me an opportunity.”
Saint Joseph’s lead would dwindle as the half wore on, however, as Rohan Brown hit a three at the buzzer to send the Explorers to the locker room down just 24-23.
With the exception of Wilson, both teams would be ice cold in the first half, shooting 25 percent from the field.
Wilson would open the scoring in the second act with a driving layup to push his point total to 16 for the game. But the Explorers would begin to heat up, using a 16-7 run to take a 39-33 lead over the Hawks.
Saint Joseph’s would respond with a run of its own, however, going on a 16-3 run to build a seven point lead with just under four minutes remaining.
La Salle would threaten once more, scoring six straight to pull within one of Saint Joseph’s, but with the pressure on, Wilson would grab the spotlight, hitting a three with 39 seconds remaining to ice the game in the Hawks’ 55-50 win.
“I thought our defense carried us and we were trying to play man and zone, but we didn’t have enough bounce,” Martelli said. “To start the second half, when they got what would be their biggest lead, we changed our defense on the low post and basically gave DeAndre’ [Bembry] Price. And, it worked out for us because of our defense.”
Wilson would come up just shy of his career-high for points (23) in the game, as the senior point guard scored 22 in to lead the Hawks in to victory in his final home game.
While Wilson’s performance on the court was quite impressive, Martelli made it clear that he has been more impressed with his work off the court over the course of his four years on Hawk Hill.
“I’m proud of the fact that he’s going to graduate. That he’s walking out of here with a [2014 A-10] Championship ring. That he represents his family [well], which is what I ask all of them to do. That’s what I’m proud of, not the basketball,” Martelli said. “Knowing that he is going to graduate. Knowing that there has never been a midnight phone call about him, there has never been a call at 10 in the morning from a professor about him. He’s a tribute to his family.”
By: Kyle Babcock
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
“As a basketball player, when you see the first couple [shots] go down, you feel better, and my teammates just did a great job of finding me,” Wilson said. “And my teammates are threats, so sometimes that gives me an opportunity.”
Saint Joseph’s lead would dwindle as the half wore on, however, as Rohan Brown hit a three at the buzzer to send the Explorers to the locker room down just 24-23.
With the exception of Wilson, both teams would be ice cold in the first half, shooting 25 percent from the field.
Wilson would open the scoring in the second act with a driving layup to push his point total to 16 for the game. But the Explorers would begin to heat up, using a 16-7 run to take a 39-33 lead over the Hawks.
Saint Joseph’s would respond with a run of its own, however, going on a 16-3 run to build a seven point lead with just under four minutes remaining.
La Salle would threaten once more, scoring six straight to pull within one of Saint Joseph’s, but with the pressure on, Wilson would grab the spotlight, hitting a three with 39 seconds remaining to ice the game in the Hawks’ 55-50 win.
“I thought our defense carried us and we were trying to play man and zone, but we didn’t have enough bounce,” Martelli said. “To start the second half, when they got what would be their biggest lead, we changed our defense on the low post and basically gave DeAndre’ [Bembry] Price. And, it worked out for us because of our defense.”
Wilson would come up just shy of his career-high for points (23) in the game, as the senior point guard scored 22 in to lead the Hawks in to victory in his final home game.
While Wilson’s performance on the court was quite impressive, Martelli made it clear that he has been more impressed with his work off the court over the course of his four years on Hawk Hill.
“I’m proud of the fact that he’s going to graduate. That he’s walking out of here with a [2014 A-10] Championship ring. That he represents his family [well], which is what I ask all of them to do. That’s what I’m proud of, not the basketball,” Martelli said. “Knowing that he is going to graduate. Knowing that there has never been a midnight phone call about him, there has never been a call at 10 in the morning from a professor about him. He’s a tribute to his family.”
By: Kyle Babcock
Follow us on Twitter: @BroadStBeat
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