In Philadelphia, there’s no bigger college sports event than the Big 5 Championship game. The second iteration of the Big 5 Classic saw the St. Joseph’s Hawks face off against the La Salle Explorers.
St. Joe’s had a quick start out of the gate. A layup by Erik Reynolds II sent streamers flying, as is tradition, from the Hawks’ student section. After building a 5-0 lead, La Salle hit a 3 from Demetrius Lilley for their first points and subsequent streamers.
After 10 minutes, both teams were struggling to sink shots. St. Joe’s was 7-19 and had missed all 6 3-point attempts. La Salle was just 4-17 and 1-8 on 3-chances. The score sat at just 13-12, La Salle.
The shots started to fall for St. Joe’s. After a Rasheer Fleming dunk and a layup from Derek Simpson, the Hawks built a 7-pt lead.
Lilley responded for the Explorers, hitting a three and one of two free throws. Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi made a layup to make it a one-point game. Dasear Haskins hit a jumper and was fouled for a three-point play, giving St. Joe’s a four-point lead at the half.
The Hawks’ offense exploded to start the second half. They built their first 10-point lead after a free throw by Xzayvier Brown. Justice Ajogbor hit an alley-oop and a slam dunk in the first five minutes of the half. The slam put St. Joe’s up by 13.
With 12:21 to go, the Hawks took a 14-point lead after a Haskins layup and made ft. Haskins added another layup to make it a 16-point lead.
La Salle tried to get something going but could only bring the lead down to 11. A Brown breakaway gave St. Joe’s another 16-point lead with 7:19 to go. Brown hit a three for the Hawks’ largest lead of the game, 17, with 5:26 to go.
The Hawks walk away with their second consecutive Big 5 Classic championship, their 22nd Big 5 title, and bragging rights for the rest of the season. They secure their first win in the A10 of the season.
“I want us to, as a program, enjoy this blessing,” said head coach Billy Lange. He mentioned that the back-to-back titles weren’t on his mind at all. Instead, he wanted this current team to “attack this moment as a team.”
The duo of Erik Reynolds II and Xzayvier Brown led the way for the Hawks. The pair both had 20-point games, Reynolds with 24 and Brown with 21. Brown also had four steals for the back-to-back champs.
For La Salle, Demetrius Lilley scored 12 points and six boards in the first half but was taken out early in the second half. Freshman Deuce Jones led La Salle with 19 points.
