Saint Joseph's 81, St. Bonaventure 56

2/13/2008 8:11 PM

By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Ahmad Nivins scored 18 points and Pat Calathes had 15 to lead Saint Joseph's to an 81-56 win over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night.

Rob Ferguson added 12 points to help the Hawks (16-7, 7-3 Atlantic 10) snap a two-game losing streak and beat the Bonnies for the 13th straight time. St. Bonaventure (7-16, 1-8) hasn't defeated Saint Joseph's since 2000 and dropped to 0-12 on the road this season.

After a pair of disappointing losses last week at Duquesne and Xavier hindered their NCAA tournament hopes, the Hawks used 12 3-pointers to bounce back to form.

Ferguson, Darrin Govens and Tasheed Carr all sank 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that started the second half and broke the game open. The Hawks cruised from there, shooting 58 percent from the field.

Zarryon Fereti scored 15 points for the Bonnies.

The Hawks are Philadelphia's best hope to send a team to the NCAA tournament. Postseason regulars like Penn and Villanova have slumped this season, potentially making this tournament the first one since 1977 without a Philadelphia-area team.

Saint Joseph's likely needs to at least split games against Rhode Island and No. 12 Xavier and make a deep run in the A-10 tourney to have a shot at an at-large bid. Of course, winning the conference tournament would assure them of an automatic berth into the NCAA field.

Nivins went over the 1,000-point mark in the first half, joining Ferguson and Calathes as Hawks who have reached that career milestone.

Fereti hit three 3s and scored 11 points to help the Bonnies keep close in the first half. Fereti, however, landed awkwardly on a Hawks player's foot and appeared to hurt his left ankle. He needed assistance to the bench and returned in the second half.

The game was tied until Carr hit a 3 and Calathes made one after the ball hit the rim, popped high in the air and plopped through the net at the buzzer to give St. Joseph's a 41-36 halftime lead.