Big 5 Classic Champs! Hawks Down Temple In Inaugural MHS Lift Big 5 Title Game

Rasheer Fleming scored a career-high 22 points and added a team-high nine rebounds as Saint Joseph's topped Temple, 74-65, to capture the inaugural MHS Lift Big 5 Classic championship on Saturday evening at the Wells Fargo Center.

How It Happened
• Anthony Finkley scored the opening five points to give the Hawks an early 5-0 edge.
• A three-pointer by Erik Reynolds II and a layup by Xzayvier Brown pushed St. Joe's lead to 19-9 at 13:06.
• Temple answered back, cutting the Hawks' lead to 23-15.
• Saint Joseph's countered with a 4-0 run to open a 27-15 lead, and entered halftime ahead 34-23.
• A layup by Fleming extended the Hawks' advantage to 40-25 less than two minutes into the second half.
• The Owls countered with an 11-0 run as a pair of free throws by Zion Stanford made it 40-36.
• Saint Joseph's built its lead back to nine, 47-38, on a layup by Lynn Greer III and a dunk by Fleming.
• A three-pointer by Temple's Matteo Picarelli at 9:02 brought the Owls to within 52-47.
• Saint Joseph's would allow its city rival to get no closer as Fleming and Reynolds II answered back with baskets, and the Hawks pushed their lead to as many as 14 in the final minutes.

Inside The Boxscore
• Fleming went 8-11 from the field, including 2-4 from three-point range and 4-4 from the foul line for 22 points, and added four blocks to go with his nine boards.
• Greer III finished the night with 14 points six rebounds and two assists.
• Reynolds II handed out five assists and added 11 points and three rebounds.
• Cameron Brown was the fourth Hawk in double figures, tallying 11 points to go with six rebounds.
• With the win, the Hawks improve to 135-120 all-time in Big 5 play.
• Saturday marked the 21st Big 5 crown for Saint Joseph's, and its first since it shared the title with Temple in 2011-12.

Up Next
The Hawks host American on Wednesday, December 6, at 7 p.m.

This news article originally appeared on sjuhawks.com.