St. Joe’s battles No. 16 Kentucky but falls in overtime

St. Joseph’s put up a fight Monday against No. 16 Kentucky at the Wildcat Tournament in Lexington, Ky., but the hosts held on for a 96-88 victory in overtime.

Junior Erik Reynolds paced the Hawks (3-2) with 28 points, including six three-pointers. Cameron Brown and Xzayvier Brown added 17 points each. Sophomore Rasheer Fleming and redshirt freshman Christ Essandoko had nine rebounds apiece for the Hawks, who had 42 boards to Kentucky’s 37. Xzayvier Brown had three steals for St. Joe’s.

Camden High School alum D.J. Wagner and Tre Mitchell paced Kentucky (4-1) with 22 points each. Antonio Reeves added 20 points and five rebounds.

The Hawks came out hot to start the game, leading for the early part of the first half until a layup by Reeves tied the score. A three-pointer on a fast break by Rob Dillingham put the Wildcats up by three. They held that lead for the remainder of the half and led by 41-38 at the break. Hawks coach Billy Lange kept Cameron Brown on the bench for the last seven minutes of the first half with three personal fouls.

St. Joe’s sank eight three-pointers in the second half, but Kentucky pulled away in the extra session.

A fast break led to a layup by Xzayvier Brown to make it a two-point game with three minutes left in the second half. The Hawks then tied it with a layup by Essandoko with two minutes remaining. A free throw by Essandoko tied the score at 77 to send the game into overtime.

Mitchell sank two straight three-pointers in overtime to put Kentucky in command.

The Hawks will head back home to face Sacred Heart at Hagan Arena on Sunday at 1 p.m.