The Saint Joseph’s Hawks (20-14) lost, 67-65, against Northern Iowa in the first round of the NIT.
Ron Roberts fights for a loose ball.
The Hawks shot an ugly 13/22 (59%) from the line. Carl Jones carried the team with 24 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. Langston Galloway went cold and only scored 5 points with 2 turnovers, which really hurt the Hawks’ balance. He fouled out and it was arguably his worst game of the season. C.J. Aiken scored a solid 16 points and Halil Kanacevic contributed 9 points and 12 rebounds.
The Northern Iowa Panthers’ star player was their forward Seth Tuttle. Tuttle had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Panthers’ starting guard, Mark Sonnen, hit 2 of his team’s 3 three-pointers for the game. He ended up with 15 points and 4 rebounds.
Northern Iowa will face Drexel in the second round of the NIT tournament. The season has come to a close for the Hawks, with a disappointing loss in the NIT and a 20-14 record.
Such a tough loss to bear . . . hopefully SJU turns it around next year with more experience.