The Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team won the A-10 Championship in large part because none of their players care about individual accolades or personal statistics. No one is selfish, players pass up good shots if a teammate can get a great shot. They've developed a unique chemistry that only works because every single player completely buys in -- as senior guard Aaron Brown puts it, if even one player didn't, it'd ruin everything.
Coming off a disappointing 13-18 season, the Hawks knew the only way to remove the stench from a season they'd love to forget was hard work. The team stayed together over the summer, and, led by senior forward Isaiah Miles, worked tirelessly to ensure big things would happen this season. They're also not relying on new players as the team has remained mostly the same, so self-improvement was going to be the only way they'd see better results.
Their captain, forward DeAndre' Bembry, has made sure his team never relents, always pushing one another to achieve greatness. As head coach Phil Martelli explains, they're now in a situation to create a memory of a lifetime in the NCAA Tournament. Their goal is to be playing their best ball in March -- and chances are good that they will be.
After escaping Cincinnati in dramatic fashion on Friday, winning by two after a Bearcats dunk at the buzzer was ruled too late, Saint Joseph's faces No. 1 seed Oregon on Sunday in the Hawks' toughest test to date.