Donahue on running a 13-man rotation: “If we’re playing the way we can play defensively, we’re going to go deep into our bench. One of our best talents is the ability to pressure the ball and go on the transition. If we’re going to do that, we’ve got to play a lot of guys.”

Donahue on Deuce Jones’ struggles: “Deuce has been unbelievable since we’ve been here, he had a hard night for whatever reason. But I put him in towards the end because I trust him. He’s still growing into it but I can tell you he’s been our best player in every way.”

Donahue on Glover’s performance: “Glover had a hard situation where, he comes here and the coach who recruited him is gone. But what we saw tonight is literally what he does everyday. He completes hard, locked in nine rebounds and he’s obviously extremely talented.”

Donahue on his relationship with St. Joe’s: “St. Joe’s has always been something I believe in. I loved Jimmy Lynam, Jim Boyle, John Griffin, Phil Martelli. This has always been a placed that I thought was special just with the amount of enthusiasm from the fan base.”

Donahue on the chaos on this last month and a half: “This group has been great and obviously I’m so appreciative of that but even when I came as an assistant and Billy [Lange] decided to leave, I never felt a sense of non-support for me and I’m grateful for that.”

Simpson’s advice to Glover: “He’s a big time athlete, player and has a big time IQ. Whatever happened last year, nobody cares anymore. It’s all about what he’s going to do this year. All I can ask for him is to keep going, keep pushing every day and he’s been doing that.”

Simpson on his role this season: “Lead. Lead these young guys into being great young men and basketball players. I think I have the most experience on the team and what I can do is tell [my teammates] how they can do better. I want to lead this team in different ways.”

Simpson on this new roster: “We’re young, we’re athletic, we can do whatever we want when it comes to athleticism and that’s our advantage. We are dangerous but we’ve have to come back into practice and reset because there’s a lot of things today that could have gone better.”

Glover on his St. Joe’s debut: “Fans were great, energy was great, it was everything I expected. I just let the game come to me, I wasn’t trying to force anything. If I’ve hit a couple shots in the first half and my shots falling, I’m gonna keep looking for it.”

Donahue on the win: “This game had so many different challenges to it. Give Lafayette credit because they answered the punch. That being said, the challenge of finishing the game out in a grind. We’ve got a lot of work to do, I know, but that’s a great way to start the season.”

Final:
St. Joe’s - 83
Lafayette - 74

St. Joe’s might have a blossoming star in Jaiden Glover-Toscano who finishes with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead all scorers.

Shareef Jackson came on strong in the second half for Lafayette but his 16 points wasn’t enough.

H2 | 3:06
St. Joe’s - 73
Lafayette - 66

Lafayette continues to battle back in the second half with Phillips and Williams each at 15 points for the Leopards.

However, Glover-Toscano is keeping St. Joe’s afloat with his 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists tonight.

H2 | 5:06
St. Joe’s - 70
Lafayette - 62

McGarvey using a timeout with Lafayette now scoreless over the last 1:56 to put St. Joe’s back ahead by eight.

It’s a 6-0 run for the Hawks but with only one made three in their last attempts.

H2 | 7:51
St. Joe’s - 64
Lafayette - 58

Three-point shooting struggles remain for St. Joe’s, now 2-for-8, but attacking the rim and getting to the line has been a recipe to keep Lafayette at bay.

Glover-Toscano, Finkley and Dasear Haskins each into double-digits for SJU.

H2 | 11:07
St. Joe’s - 58
Lafayette - 55

Lafayette back within a possession behind a trio of double-digit scorers in Phillips, Williams and Shareef Jackson.

However, St. Joe’s is holding firm at a possession despite shooting struggles emerging, just 2-for-6 from deep this half.