St. Joseph’s upsets Dayton, La Salle beats Duquesne in men’s hoops; Villanova women win at Providence in OT

St. Joseph’s obviously was fired up Wednesday night on Senior Night. And fittingly, the guys who fired up the Hawks were two of their seniors — Taylor Funk and Ryan Daly.

Funk established a career high with 36 points while Daly, playing in only his second game since suffering a thumb injury, added 25 and matched Funk’s total of five three-point baskets, lifting the Hawks to a 97-84 upset of Dayton in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Hagan Arena.

St. Joseph’s (3-14, 2-9 A-10) established a season high for points and three-point baskets with 18, two short of the school record. And the Hawks did it with confidence at the offensive end thanks to the return of Daly to the lineup.

“We’ve got some new energy to us, some new life,” Daly said after going 9 of 19 from the field and 5 of 11 from three in only his seventh game of the season. “I think you’ve seen that in the last two games, putting on some points. We’re excited to keep going. We’re not scared of nothing.”

Daly returned to the lineup Saturday and scored 30 points in a 91-82 overtime win over La Salle.

The Hawks, who had only seven healthy scholarship players available, led by 17 in the first half in taking a 54-38 lead, shooting 52.6% from the floor with 10 threes.

After the Flyers (12-8, 8-7) cut the deficit to three with a little over 13 minutes left following a 19-5 run, the Hawks regrouped and reestablished their double-digit advantage with the help of Cam Brown, who knocked down two threes to spark a 26-10 run.

On one trip to the line, Funk sank five consecutive free throws ― three on a shooting foul and two off a technical foul assessed to Dayton coach Anthony Grant — to give St. Joe’s an 87-69 lead with 6 minutes, 33 seconds left, and the Hawks were home free.

“Honestly, it feels like the beginning of the season,” Funk said. “We had that little pause for COVID. I think it was good for us. We got our minds straight, we got some really good work in. Then getting Ryan back, I think our spirits are the highest they’ve been.”

Brown finished with 18 points and freshman guard Jordan Hall added 18 to go with six rebounds and five assists.

Hawks coach Billy Lange thanked his athletic director, Jill Bodensteiner, for “talking to the correct [government] agencies” and working out a plan to get the players’ parents allowed into Hagan Arena for the first time all season.

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It was also Senior Night at La Salle, and senior guard David Beatty made sure he and his classmates celebrated the occasion the right way.

Beatty scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and helped the Explorers break a four-game losing streak with an 85-65 victory over Duquesne in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Tom Gola Arena.

A 6-foot-2 guard from Imhotep Charter, Beatty knocked down four of the 11 three-point baskets made by La Salle (9-14, 6-10). After a close first half that saw six lead changes, Beatty sparked a 52-point second half going 4 of 5 from the field and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc while draining all eight of his free-throw attempts.

“Going into the second half, we knew that we’ve got to get stops and we’ve got to rebound,” Beatty said. “I told my team as long as we rebound, we’ll get out and attack in transition because everybody is crashing so we’ll have numbers. Thankfully we all benefited from that. We executed and got good shots.”

The Dukes (7-8, 6-7) pulled down 14 offensive rebounds in the game compared to nine for La Salle, but the Explorers prevailed in second-chance points, 18-12. The Explorers also shot 53.1% from the field but committed 22 turnovers.

“I don’t like that number,” La Salle coach Ashley Howard said. “We were a little careless at times. We did have 18 assists on 26 field goals, which when our team is moving the ball and we’re sharing the ball, we usually play better.”

Jhamir Brickus added 17 points for the Explorers and Sherif Kenney 14. Christian Ray posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

As with the St. Joseph’s game, parents of La Salle’s players were allowed in the arena for the first time all season.

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Villanova looks forward to the pressure of overtime games. The Wildcats won at Providence, 63-58 for their fifth straight OT win in the last two seasons.

The Wildcats outlasted Providence (6-12-4-9 Big East) in a defensive struggle. Maddy Siegrist led Villanova (14-4, 9-4) with 24 points. Freshman Bella Runyan was the only other player to score in double figures. She scored 11 points off the bench.