Suddenly, St. Joe's, porous on defense and aimless on offense during the first 20 minutes, began playing with cohesion. The Hawks stiffened defensively, got key blocked shots from C.J. Aiken, key baskets from Carl Jones, and intelligent play from Charoy Bentley to win their second straight game. St. Joe's (7-17, 2-8 A-10), which became the 35th Division I program to reach 1,500 victories with the win, hadn't won consecutive games in 2011.
"I just felt like I had to be more aggressive since we were down, and I just wanted to get the team back in it," said Galloway, who tied his career high with 25 points. "And the shots started falling."
Actually, the shots started falling for Galloway in the win over Massachusetts nine days ago, when he also scored 25 and shot 6 for 6 from three-point distance. Including Sunday, he has connected on 10 of 15 shots from beyond the stripe.
"I'm just feeling more confident," Galloway said. "And I've been working on my shot a little more during extra time. You just feel like the basket is getting bigger. Early on, there were a couple games when the basket was real tight, and I was trying to force it to get it in."
Quiet until the final 10 minutes of the game, Jones, the skinny but explosive sophomore who leads the team in scoring, gave St. Joe's its first lead on a three-pointer with 8 minutes, 51 seconds remaining. He followed with two more treys, both from deep in the corner, to fuel a 15-5 run.
The Hawks survived some wobbly moments the rest of the way, but Bentley, one of only two seniors on the team, was there to steady them. Bentley had 14 points, three assists, and - perhaps most important - only one turnover in 23 minutes. Aiken had seven blocked shots, and St. Joe's shot 60 percent in the second half.
