St. Joe’s Upset Win Leads the Night in Philly Sports
Reports from the NCAA conference tournaments, the Sixers, and a Phillies glide
St. Joe’s pulled one out vs. Richmond last night. / Photograph courtesy of St. Joseph’s University
No Philly Today today — it’s Victor’s day off — but there was so much sports action that we wanted to catch you up. The Sixers were in Milwaukee to play the Bucks last night, and they hung tight through the first quarter as Buddy Hield was hitting treys.
https://twitter.com/sixers/status/1768435548954472913
We were ahead 29-24 at the buzzer courtesy of a 10-0 run. And ooh, we looked fine in the second, going up by as much as 12 and closing it out ahead 61-53. But the Bucks climbed back in the third, taking a 73-72 lead with three to go before the Sixers were about to counter and end the quarter up 83-80. Could our guys hang on? The fourth was, well, back-and-forth until the Bucks went up 96-90 halfway through. Put this one in the valiant-effort category. Final: 114-105.
How’d the Phillies Do?
They had an easy 6-1 win over the Red Sox thanks to two-hit games by David Dahl and Whit Merrifield. Starter Ranger Suárez went three and two-thirds and only allowed one hit; he had five Ks but also walked four. Didn’t hurt him much, though.
And in College Hoops?
In Thursday tournament play, St. Joe’s erased a 10-point second-half deficit and pulled off the upset of the Atlantic 10 playoffs by knocking off top-seeded Richmond.
And just like that, the 1-seed in the A-10 Tournament is OUT, as Richmond falls 66-61 to St. Joe’s, thanks to 30 pts from Erik Reynolds.
Hawks will play winner of VCU and UMass, which tips off in 30 minutes.
What a start to today! pic.twitter.com/wmukDIjSN5
— Tristan Freeman (@hoopsnut351) March 14, 2024
They’ll face VCU Saturday at 1 p.m. in the semifinals.
In the Big East tournament, it was sixth-seeded Villanova vs. the third-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles, and the Wildcats had the barest of leads at halftime, 29-28, with Eric Dixon leading with 13 points. They fell behind in the second half but battled back and then surged ahead on serious shooting by TJ Bamba with seven to go. They slipped behind in the late going but tied it at 58 with a minute left, played great D and got the ball back, missed their shot, lost the ball out of bounds with 2.8 seconds to go, and lost in heartbreaking fashion on a final Marquette set play, 60-58. But wait! Did the shot beat the clock? A long review, and then …
Headed to overtime, tied at 58!
Marquette's apparent go-ahead bucket at the buzzer is ruled to have come after the clock hit 0:00.— Villanova MBB (@NovaMBB) March 15, 2024
But a disputed out-of-bounds call with 23 seconds left in OT and Marquette in the lead, 67-65, gave the Golden Eagles the ball after a review. They made a two and wound up the winners, 71-65.
In simultaneous AAC action, the halftime deficit was likewise one for the Temple Owls, who trailed the SMU Mustangs 33-32; Hysier Miller led with 12. In the second half, they tied it up after trailing by 10, went on a 17-3 run to lead 53-46, and never let up. “SMU has lost its composure, and Temple has found theirs,” the announcer decreed. In the end, a huge 15-point Owls win, 75-60. On to the quarterfinals: Hoot!
WE ARE NOT GOING HOME TONIGHT!!!!!#Team128 pic.twitter.com/BOBwrEAG8m
— Temple Men's Basketball (@TUMBBHoops) March 15, 2024
They play again tonight at 9 p.m. against the Charlotte 49ers.
The Flyers also played.
