La Salle and Saint Joseph's tip off at Gola on Saturday. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
February 3, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph’s is a team that loves to shoot 3-pointers. The more the better.
Coach Billy Lange’s offense is built around his experience as an assistant coach in the NBA and studying analytics, both of which emphasize the 3-pointer.
It’s fun to watch.
Sometimes, though, getting points the old-fashioned way makes all the difference. That was the case on Saturday, when the Hawks came back from a 12-point second-half deficit to defeat La Salle 88-82 at Gola Arena.
The victory improved St. Joe’s to 15-7 overall and 5-4 in the Atlantic 10 while the Explorers dropped to 11-11 overall and 2-7 in the league.
La Salle led 64-52 with 11:45 to play after a Jhamir Brickus jumper. The Hawks started chipping into the deficit but still trailed 69-64 with 7:46 remaining after a, what else, Cam Brown 3-pointer.
Enter Lynn Greer III and Xzayvier Brown.
Both Greer and X Brown had struggled to that point, with Greer missing 9 of 12 shots and Brown failing to connect on all four of his tries. But both got going in a big way, flashing dazzling explosiveness in a game-changing, stretch that turned a five-point deficit into a seven-point lead.
There was Greer on a follow, then X Brown on a lefty layup, then another layup by X Brown, then a three-point play by Greer, three straight free throws by Greer, an X Brown layup and, finally, a short jumper by Greer.
Add it all up like this: Three minutes, 42 seconds. Greer and X Brown 16 points, La Salle 4.
“My teammates did a really good job of finding me in certain positions,” Greer said. “I was able to attack. They were setting really good screens for me. It was really all my teammates.”
La Salle’s defenders couldn’t keep Greer or X Brown in front of them.
“We can’t let them get all the way to the rim,” La Salle coach Fran Dunphy said.
No 3-pointers during that stretch for the Hawks. Didn’t need them. That’s an encouraging sign for Lange and troubling for opponents.
“What is encouraging is the diversity of our offense,” Lange said.
It’s also a positive for St. Joe’s that neither Greer nor X Brown hung their heads when things weren’t going well.
“I was kind of forcing a few shots in the first half that I shouldn’t have taken,” Greer said.
Greer ended up with 16 points, 14 of which came after halftime, along with 10 rebounds and three assists. X Brown had all nine of his points in the second half and connected on his last three field goals after missing his first four.
“He and X are really good with the ball,” Lange said. “They see the floor. They have great skills, and it just puts a lot of pressure on other people. If they’re not going to give Cam and Erik (Reynolds II) three’s, then it just gives these guys space to do what they do.”
And the Hawks’ head coach never was worried about Greer’s slow start.
“This guy has made countless big shots for us,” he said. “I have total faith in him.”
St. Joe’s will turn its attention to No. 21 Dayton on Tuesday at Hagan. They surely will be launching 3-pointers as they’ve done all season. Greer probably will, too. Same with X Brown, who has proven to be deadly accurate from distance in his rookie campaign.
But if they need to get to the paint, the Hawks will know where to look.
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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.