VILLANOVA, Pa. _ For the second straight game Villanova's bench came alive while helping provide yet another Big 5 basketball win.
With a 31-10 advantage in bench scoring, No. 21 Villanova defeated St. Joseph's, 70-58, in Saturday afternoon's Big 5 game at Finneran Pavilion.
It was the 25th consecutive Big 5 win for Villanova, now 8-2 and 3-0 in City Series games. The Wildcats complete their Big 5 schedule with Tuesday's game against Penn at the Palestra.
During Wednesday's 69-59 Big 5 win over Temple, Villanova's bench outscored the Owls, 29-7.
Despite missing two key performers due to injury, St. Joseph's would eventually make an impressive comeback.
The Hawks (5-5, 0-2), played without leading scorer Charlie Brown Jr. (22.0 ppg.), out with a sprained right ankle, suffered during Wednesday's 92-82 win at Princeton Top rebounder Pierfrancesco Oliva missed his second straight game after suffering a concussion in a 77-70 loss to Temple last Saturday.
For the second game in a row, Villanova's 6-foot-7 sophomore Jermaine Samuels and 6-4 guard Joe Cremo opened things up with some instant offense.
After scoring a career-high 15 points against Temple, Samuels, finished with 11 points. Cremo, a graduate transfer from Albany, scored 12 points, all in the first half.
While we're at it, 6-9 freshman Cole Swider was also a productive reserve. Swider scored eight points, all in the second half.
Eric Paschall led Villanova with 14 points while Phill Booth scored 12.
Guard Fresh Kimble led St. Joseph's with 22 points.
To its credit, St. Joseph's fought back. Going on a 16-0 run, the Hawks cut the lead to 62-56 when Kimble made one of two free throws with 2 minutes and 39 seconds left.
Booth stopped the run with a three-pointer but St. Joseph's made it 65-58 on Markell Lodge's put-back with 2:12 left.
Finally, Villanova got some breathing room when Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree gave the Wildcats a 68-58 lead with 1:05 left on a conventional three-point play.
