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Gonzaga 94, Saint Joseph’s 42
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Senior guard Gary Bell Jr. scored 18 points, all in the first half, leading No. 13 Gonzaga to a 94-42 rout of Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday night at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane, Wash.
Bell led five players who scored in double figures for Gonzaga (3-0). Freshman guard Josh Perkins came off the bench to score 13 points, senior guard Byron Wesley scored 12, junior center Przemek Karnowski scored 11, and freshman forward Domantas Sabonis had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Junior guard Aaron Brown scored 14 points off the bench to lead Saint Joseph’s (1-2).
Gonzaga made its first eight field-goal attempts and outscored Saint Joseph’s 16-2 over the first five minutes. The Hawks missed 11 of their first 13 shots.
Saint Joseph’s cut the deficit to 11 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Chris Wilson with 14:42 to play in the opening half, but Gonzaga responded with a 13-0 run. The Bulldogs took a commanding 29-5 lead on a 3-point play by Sabonis, the son of former NBA standout and Lithuanian basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis.
Gonzaga went into the locker room at the break with an already insurmountable 48-10 advantage. The Bulldogs shot 61.3 percent from the field and made five of 11 from 3-point range before halftime. They finished the night at 56.9 percent from the floor and 10 of 22 from long distance.
The Hawks shot just 10.7 percent in the first half, making three of 28 field-goal attempts and one of 10 from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward DeAndre Bembry, the team’s leading scorer, shot 0-for-9 before halftime, 2-for-13 overall for five points.
St. Joseph’s hit 25.9 percent of its field-goal attempts overall.
