Saint Joseph's and VCU tip off in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals on Saturday in Brooklyn. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
March 16, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Saint Joseph’s Erik Reynolds II was last off the court. Staring straight ahead, one slow step at a time taking him back to the Hawks’ locker room.
Delirium was over his left shoulder as VCU celebrated. The heartbreak of St. Joe’s locker room got closer with each footstep.
What was Reynolds thinking?
What was he thinking after No. 9-seeded St. Joe’s dropped a 66-60 decision to No. 5 VCU in the Atlantic 10 semifinals here at Barclays Center on Saturday?
Reynolds had a really strong game, not the scintillating 30-point outburst of Thursday when the Hawks knocked off top-seeded Richmond in the A-10 quarterfinals, but a very, very good 18-point performance against relentless double-teaming defensive pressure from the Rams.
Was Reynolds thinking about another play that the Hawks could have made, offensively or defensively?
Was he thinking about missing out on the NCAA tournament with the Big Dance oh-so close?
Was he thinking about how hard he’s worked to get to this point, only for the season to end way too suddenly?
It could have been any or all of those emotions, or something else. The Hawks’ best player wasn’t made available for the postgame press conference, though, so we can’t know for sure.
If he wasn’t talking because the emotions of the defeat were too raw, too difficult, too sad, which seemed to be the case, you can totally understand.
Losing is hard. Losing when you’re so close to a probable dream is harder. Especially when you have a team that is good enough to be there.
After a promising nonconference season, St. Joe’s put behind a so-so conference run and was playing its best basketball of the season here in Brooklyn. The Hawks played well, if not perfectly, against the Rams. There were some plays here and there, namely a Joe Bamisile dunk with 42 seconds to play that made it 63-60 VCU that turned the contest. There were other plays that you could pick apart, offensively and defensively, as with every game.
Overall, though, the Hawks played well, well enough to win. Well enough to get in position to earn the A-10’s automatic NCAA tournament bid and return to the Big Dance as a program for the first time since 2016. The talent level of the Hawks and Rams is similar. They could play 100 times, and VCU might win 55. They are that close.
St. Joe’s just came up a little short. Such is sports that someone has to win and someone has to lose. Yeah, it’s a cliche, and I despise them, but it’s true.
“It was an amazing second half for both teams,” St. Joe’s coach Billy Lnage said. “And either team could’ve won. This was a great game.”
It really was. Just another electric, down-to-the-wire finish that has epitomized this phenomenal tournament. For a basketball fan not wearing Saint Joseph’s colors, it was just thrilling.
Yeah, it’s a difficult loss for fans from Hawk Hill. Same for the coaches, support staff and everyone affiliated with St. Joe’s who made the trip up to Barclays Center.
For those actually wearing the crimson and gray, it’s even more difficult.
For some players, it might have even been too difficult to even talk about.
“It was a tough feeling,” Rasheer Fleming, who had eight points and 12 rebounds, said of the postgame locker room. “But we’ll be back.”
The Hawks very well might return for a deep A-10 run in 2025. On paper, they have a team that should contend for an A-10 title and NCAA berth next season. Of course, the current landscape of college basketball, with the NIL and the transfer portal, does not allow any team to look past today.
Maybe that was something else on Reynolds’ mind. He surely will be, as after last season, a sought-after player. He could start on any Power 6 team in the country, I think.
Will Reynolds stay at St. Joe’s? Time will tell. Was he thinking about it afterward? Only he knows.
Lange wishes that the only question he had to answer on Saturday afternoon was what his inspirational message to his team would be before a Sunday A-10 final. Or maybe how they would spend the morning getting ready for the biggest game of their lives.
Alas, it’s not to be this time. Not this year. Not for these Hawks.
“It’s just been a blessing to compete with these guys,” Lange said. “Wish we had one more day to grow, one more day to learn, one more day to unite.”
For Lange and the Hawks, sadly, this point was not in question. This one had an answer: There would not be another day in this tournament.
And, understandably for them, that’s painful and not something they really want to talk much about.
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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.