NEW YORK — Junior forward DeAndre’ Bembry helped keep St. Joe’s alive for another day in the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Barclays Center.
The former St. Patrick’s High School star and NBA Draft prospect finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists as St. Joe’s came from 15 down in the second half to defeat George Washington, 86–80, in the quarterfinals. No. 4 St. Joe’s (25-7) will meet No. 1 Dayton (25-6) in the first A-10 semifinal on Saturday at 1:30.
“[Bembry] left some plays out there…” St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli said. “But he’s a very confident player. During the timeouts, when everyone was overexcited, including assistant coaches, and everybody wants to talk, he was the one that said, ‘Yo, one voice here. One voice. Everyone get zeroed in.’ He kept them calm, and he competed… It’s his leadership that brought us home.”
“We were down for most of the game,” Bembry said. “We knew that they would miss shots in the second half. Our offense is really not the problem for this team. We knew if we got any stops, we’d come back and score, and that’s what happened… This is definitely a team, and we’re trying to stay like that. Everybody made big plays down the stretch.”
Bembry joined Saint Joe’s in 2013 and hasn’t looked back since. In his freshman season, the 6-foot-6 forward shot 45.8 percent from the field on his way to averaging 12.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, earning Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Year honors. That year, the Hawks won the A-10 tournament and made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in six years.
Now a junior, Bembry has seen his play improve vastly over the last two seasons. On Tuesday, Bembry was named the A-10 Player of the Year after averaging 17.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game this season. The forward is one of three players in the country to average 17 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Bembry was also named to the A-10 First Team (for the second straight season) and the All-Defensive Team.
“It’s his leadership… I don’t know how to say it any other way,” said Martelli when asked what Bembry means to this Saint Joseph’s team.
Bembry is the only healthy player in the A-10 considered an NBA Draft prospect, currently going to Orlando at No. 48 according to DraftExpress.com. However, the draft is the last thing on the junior’s mind right now. For the second time in Bembry’s career at Saint Joseph’s, the Hawks are in a position to make the NCAA tournament. But Martelli isn’t letting his team talk about next week yet.
Joe Lunardi currently has the Hawks as a No. 9 seed playing No. 8 Texas Tech in Brooklyn.
”We have not had any discussion about next week…” Martelli said about his team’s NCAA Tournament situation. “I’ve not looked at a RPI, I’ve not looked at any of these experts. I have no idea… I knew we came in here on a two game losing streak. That was it. All I wanted to do was play tomorrow.”
Now as he closes in on what could be the end of his college career, Bembry and the Hawks will do that.
