NEW YORK -- There were people sitting in seats in the Rose Hill Gymnasium that hadn't been filled in a while.
A sellout crowd of 3,200 was trying to help Fordham to what would have been the upset of the season, a win over No. 2 Saint Joseph's.
The game was close for just over 12 minutes, then the Hawks went on a 33-4 run bridging halftime and remained unbeaten with a 72-54 victory Wednesday night.
"We felt before the game we knew they would feed off the crowd and we had to find a way to take their punch," said senior guard Jameer Nelson, who had 18 points and nine assists for Saint Joseph's. "After we did, we delivered ours and our punch was too big."
Just as it has been time and again this season.
Saint Joseph's (23-0, 12-0 Atlantic 10) and No. 1 Stanford (21-0) are the only unbeaten teams remaining in Division I.
"This was a terrific atmosphere and one we welcomed," Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. "I told them you have to answer when you go on the road. We settled in and the middle part of the game, from six minutes left in the half until these guys came out of the game, was what you would expect from them, sharing the ball, defending the ball."
The Hawks clinched the Atlantic 10 East Division title with the win and will have a bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. The victory also makes Nelson and fellow senior Tyrone Barley the winningest players in school history with 91.
"It's special and I told Tyrone after the game I wouldn't want to have done my four years with anyone else because he's helped me so much throughout my career and hopefully he feels the same way," Nelson said.
This was the 10th time in the past 12 games Saint Joseph's has won by at least 10 points. Fordham (4-18, 1-10) made this one look closer by closing the game with a 14-2 run against the Hawks' reserves.
Delonte West had 16 points for Saint Joseph's, which has won nine straight over Fordham, including a 79-35 victory Jan. 13.
Michael Haynes had 24 points for the Rams, who have lost nine in a row overall.
"At least I know one thing -- he's the best guard in the country. We got that straight," first-year Fordham coach Dereck Whittenburg said of Nelson. "We played as hard as we could for 16 minutes but if you make a mistake they make you play. We were very outmatched tonight."
Fordham was within 21-19 when the Hawks went on a 16-2 run to close the half. Nelson had eight points and two assists during the run in which the Rams made one field goal over 7½ minutes.
The Hawks opened the second half with a 17-2 run to go up 54-23, and again it was Nelson leading the way with seven points.
"Scores and stops," Martelii said. "That's how we get a run going and that's what we did tonight."
Nelson and West, the starting backcourt that accounts for 50 percent of the Hawks' points, were out the game with nine minutes to play.
The Hawks play Temple at the Palestra on Saturday and then have games at Massachusetts and Rhode Island before playing their final home game against St. Bonaventure.
The Atlantic 10 Tournament is in Dayton, and the Hawks are looking to become the first team since UNLV in 1991 to enter the NCAA Tournament without a loss.
"When you treat each game as the biggest game you've ever played and that's all I've ever asked them to do, this idea of a bull's-eye, in our mind, it doesn't exist," Martelli said. "I ask them to get better each day and we were better today than we were yesterday."
Nelson was asked what the difference is with the Hawks from win No. 1 to win No. 23.
"We jelled throughout the season and became a team," he said. "I think we define the word 'team' better than anybody in the country."
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
