Saint Joseph's players huddle during a game earlier this season. (File photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
March 14, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – It is fitting that the Atlantic 10 tournament is being played in an NBA arena because, as he showed once again on Thursday, Saint Joseph’s has an NBA player in Erik Reynolds II.
Reynolds took over during winning time with breathtaking moves, jaw-dropping quickness and a sweet-as-sugar shooting stroke and finished with 30 points to propel the ninth-seeded Hawks to an upset of No. 1 Richmond, 66-61, in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals at Barclays Center.
Saint Joseph’s (21-12) advances to Saturday’s semifinals at 1 p.m. on CBS Sports Network against No. 5 VCU, a 73-59 winner over No. 4 UMass on Thursday.
Reynolds wasn’t even sure he’d be able to play on Thursday after slamming his elbow into the hardwood on a drive late in the Hawks’ 64-57 victory over George Mason on Wednesday. He said the myriad of resources and St. Joe’s training staff got him ready enough to play.
From there, Reynolds put the hurt on Richmond.
The Hawks trailed 47-44 with 7:35 remaining after Isaiah Bigelow’s dunk on as beautiful of a backdoor cut as you can see.
Then, Reynolds took over with a blissful stretch of of offensive basketball over 5:24. That it came in the most crucial moments in the most crucial game of St. Joe’s season makes it that much more impressive.
“I thought we guarded him and made him take difficult shots, but he was able to make them,” Richmond coach Chris Mooney said.
Reynolds drained a 3 with 7:14 left to tie it at 47; scored on a drive with 4:36 remaining to pull the Hawks within 51-49; finished a three-point play after another drive with 3:19 remaining to make it 54-53 Hawks; drained a 3 with 2:38 on the clock to put St. Joe’s up 57-55; and, finally, connected on a jumper with 1:50 left that made it 59-55.
The swagger and confidence which Reynolds displayed during the spurt were remarkable.
“We see it every day in practice,” said Cameron Brown, who scored 10. “We know he’s a superstar. We’re just out there trusting him with the ball. It’s fun to watch, especially when he has it going. You think it’s going in every shot he takes.”
For a five-game stretch in the not-too-distant past, that wasn’t the case. Between Feb. 6 and 21, Reynolds shot 7-for-39 (.179) from the arc while playing through foot soreness. He broke out in the second half at VCU on Feb. 25, scoring 21 points in the second half, and has been closer to himself since.
On Thursday, it was the full Reynolds Show. And the Hawks desperately needed it.
“Felt great,” said Reynolds, who made 11 of 19 field goals, 3 of 8 3-pointers and 5 of 5 free throws. “All my confidence that I have making those types of plays comes from my teammates. They believe in me and believe in every shot that I take. Having them have that confidence in me makes me a different type of player. I feel like I can do anything.”
Although Reynolds was in an otherworldly zone, the Hawks needed more to push past the top-seeded Spiders, who shared the regular-season conference title with Dayton. It was other Hawks who stepped up down the stretch while Richmond blanketed Reynolds in every possible way.
For the second straight game, Rasheer Fleming grabbed an enormous offensive rebound late, this one coming with 1:06 left after an Xzayvier Brown miss that led to Cameron Brown’s bucket from close that put the Hawks in front 61-57.
Then, Fleming, who entered shooting 61.8 percent from the foul line, made 3 of 4 from the charity stripe in one-and-one situations on consecutive possessions in the final minute. Finally, with St. Joe’s ahead by just three, 64-61, Lynn Greer III clinched it with two free throws in another one-and-one situation with 9.0 seconds to play.
St. Joe’s pulled out the victory, continuing a season that no one in crimson and gray wants to end anytime soon.
“Praise God, I get another day to coach another group of guys,” Hawks coach Billy Lange said. “They’re just faithful believers. Just to have the blessing to get one more opportunity, one more meal together, one more film session together, one more conversation with somebody, He gets the glory for that because it can end at any second.”
It isn’t over yet for these Hawks. Reynolds, largely, gave them that chance, and other Hawks took it to the finish line.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.