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Wednesday, February 11, 2004

St. Joseph's 81, Dayton 67: St. Joseph's Extends Unbeaten Streak to 21: "ST. JOSEPH'S 81, DAYTON 67
St. Joseph's Extends Unbeaten Streak to 21
By CLIFTON BROWN

Published: February 12, 2004


HILADELPHIA, Feb. 11 Continuing its special season, St. Joseph's enjoyed another special night Wednesday.
Before a capacity crowd of 3,200 passionate fans at cozy Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, the third-ranked Hawks improved their record to 21-0 by defeating Dayton, 81-67.
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The victory kept St. Joseph's dream of an unbeaten season alive, led by its stellar backcourt of Jameer Nelson, a 5-foot-11 senior point guard, and Delonte West, a 6-4 junior shooting guard.
St. Joseph's and Stanford are the only unbeaten teams in Division I, and this was one of the Hawks' toughest games, against a Dayton team (19-4) that was riding a nine-game winning streak.
This was the first time in Atlantic 10 history that teams with 9-0 conference records had squared off.
The Hawks took control in the second half, when West scored 18 of his game-high 24 points.
The unbeaten streak and the exciting play of Nelson have captured the imagination of Hawk Hill, the nickname for the St. Joseph's campus. The 21-game winning streak is the longest in team history, and students and alumni are daring to dream of the Final Four and perhaps a national championship.
The Hawks have five regular-season games left, followed by the Atlantic 10 tournament. But the Hawks have only two regular-season games left against teams with winning records.
The last Division I men's team to go unbeaten through the regular season was Nevada-Las Vegas, which went 30-0 in 1990-91 but lost in the the Final Four to Duke and finished 34-1. The last team to finish undefeated in the regular season and win the N.C.A.A. tournament was Indiana, which finished 32-0 in 1975-76.

With his quickness, passing ability and reliable outside touch, Nelson is considered by many to be the nation's top point guard. Nelson did not have one of his best games Wednesday, but he still had 16 points and 7 assists while shooting 6 of 13.

Nelson and West seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to reading each other. With Nelson drawing so much attention, West is a master at finding open spots on the floor and has clever moves that enable him to take his defender off the dribble.

Dayton, led by forward Keith Waleskowski with 20 points, made it a competitive game, outrebounding St. Joseph's, 37-30, and scoring many of its second-half baskets after offensive rebounds. That exposed perhaps St. Joseph's biggest weakness — its lack of physical frontcourt players.

But Nelson and West control a game's tempo so well and the Hawks are so difficult to defend, that they are clearly difficult to beat.

"We just want to stick to our game plan and do what we do," West said. "We don't have our noses in the air. The day that you don't bring it all, either in practice or in the games, could be the day that you lose."

The Hawks led at halftime, 36-25, even though Nelson missed his first five shots from the field. While Nelson gets most of the attention, St. Joseph's is not a one-man team. Eight Hawks scored in the first half, and St. Joseph's tenacious man-to-man defense never allowed Dayton to find an offensive rhythm.

To win this game, Dayton needed a near-perfect effort. Marques Bennett had a strong first half for Dayton, making three 3-pointers for 9 points, but the Flyers shot only 28.6 percent in the half.

Dayton closed to 6 points early in the second half, but that was when Nelson and West really went to work.

As if the Hawks needed any incentive, Coach Phil Martelli picked up a technical foul while arguing a second-half foul, and from that point St. Joseph's took control. Tyrone Barley, a backcourt reserve, had a big game for the Hawks with 16 points.



"

Golf Lines From Caribbean Sportsbook: "
GOLF - BUICK INVITATIONAL COMPLETE 4 DAY MATCHUPS

12-Feb 12:05p
101 T WOODS-4DAY -135
102 V SINGH -4DAY +105

12-Feb 11:55a
103 P MICKELSON -4DAY -165
104 J KAYE - 4DAY +135

12-Feb 11:55a
105 R ALLENBY - 4DAY -115
106 D CLARKE -4DAY -115

12-Feb 12:40 p
107 J HAAS - 4DAY -135
108 B TWAY - 4DAY +105

12-Feb 12:05p
109 S APPLEBY -4DAY -120
110 C CAMPBELL - 4DAY -110

12-Feb 11:55a
111 S GARCIA - 4DAY -135
112 C RILEY - 4DAY +105

12-Feb 01:00p
113 T LEHMAN - 4DAY -130
114 L JANZEN -4DAY EV

12-Feb 11:35a
115 A CEJKA -4DAY -130
116 N FASTH -4DAY EV

12-Feb 12:50p
117 B ESTES - 4DAY -135
118 S CINK - 4DAY +105

12-Feb 12:05p
119 S FLESCH - 4DAY -140
120 S MICHEEL -4DAY +110

12-Feb 11:55a
121 C HOWELL -4DAY -120
122 KJ CHOI - 4DAY -110

12-Feb 11:30a
123 J PARNEVIK - 4DAY -130
124 S AMES -4DAY EV

12-Feb 11:35a
125 T PETROVIC -4DAY -105
126 K SUTHERLAND -4DAY -125

12-Feb 11:30a
127 B CRANE - 4DAY -135
128 S KENDALL -4DAY +105

12-Feb 11:55a
129 S GARCIA - 4DAY +125
130 P MICKELSON -4DAY -155

12-Feb 12:05p
131 S APPLEBY -4DAY -105
132 D CLARKE -4DAY -125

12-Feb 11:30a
133 J KAYE - 4DAY -135
134 J PARNEVIK - 4DAY +105

12-Feb 11:55a
135 R ALLENBY - 4DAY -115
136 C HOWELL -4DAY -115

12-Feb 11:55a
137 C CAMPBELL - 4DAY -105
138 C RILEY - 4DAY -125

12-Feb 11:30a
139 S AMES -4DAY EV
140 S FLESCH - 4DAY -130

12-Feb 12:40p
141 J HAAS - 4DAY -115
142 T LEHMAN - 4DAY -115

"

SAM VS KRASNIQI February 14th, 2004

SAM VS KRASNIQI
14-Feb 11:59p
101 SINAN SAMIL SAM -275
102 LUAN KRASNIQI +225

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20-Feb 09:00p
101 TOKUNBO OLAJIDE -500
102 LARRY MARKS +400

GUZMAN VS SANCHEZ
February 26th, 2004
26-Feb 09:00p

251 JOAN GUZMAN -300
252 AGAPITO SANCHEZ +240 "

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