PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A 20-4 second half run, sparked by gritty defensive work and timely offense from seasoned vets Brandon Slater and Chris Arcidiacono, helped carry Villanova to a 71-64 victory over Saint Joseph's at Hagan Arena Saturday afternoon. The win gives the Wildcats (6-5 overall, 3-1 Philadelphia Big Five) a share of the City Series crown with Temple.
 
Slater contributed 19 points and eight rebounds, tying a career-high with five 3-pointers in the win. Redshirt junior Eric Dixon added a double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds) while Arcidiacono scored 14 points to go with four assists and zero turnovers in 35:18 against consistent Hawks defensive pressure.
 
"Take out the first 10 minutes, and I really liked the way our team competed today, especially defensively," stated Villanova head coach Kyle Neptune. "We took a lot of punches from them early. They came out really hot. I thought they had a great game plan. They're a load – the way they shoot the ball, the way they move the ball. Billy Lange is a great coach, especially offensively.
 
"Luckily, we made a lot of shots early. I really liked the last 30 minutes of that game."
 
The early minutes of this one saw Vilanova drop in its first four attempts from beyond the 3-point arc – two by Slater – to take a 12-10 lead over the Hawks through 4:31 of the opening period. The Hawks were able to stay close by forcing three Nova turnovers in that span.
 
Saint Joseph's used an 11-3 spurt to reclaim the lead at 21-18 before a Brendan Hausen triple deadlocked matters at 21 as the clock dipped below the 12-minute mark of the half. A short while later, Eric Dixon added a corner 3-pointer for Villanova's eighth in the first 10 minutes. Yet the lead was just one, 24-23 midway through the period.
 
The second 10 minutes of the period were very different from the ones that preceded them. Both teams locked in at the defensive end and the points were suddenly much more difficult to find. At one point, Villanova misfired on nine straight attempts from beyond the arc. The contest was tied at 28 with 1:52 to go until halftime.
 
A Caleb Daniels basket with nine seconds left tied the game at 32 before Lynn Greer III dropped in a 3-pointer off of an offensive rebound just before the buzzer sounded to give Saint Joseph's a 35-32 advantage at intermission.
 
Slater's nine points paced the Wildcats in the first 20 minutes. Eric Reynolds II led the Hawks with 11 points.
 
3-pointer by Dixon, Slater and Arcidiacono helped Villanova draw even with the Hawks after they had crafted a six-point edge in the first three minutes of the period. The 'Cats began to piece together a series of defensive stops that helped them build a 53-48 lead after a driving Dixon layup with 11:51 to play in the second half.
 
Five points from Slater – on his fifth triple of the day and a pair of free throws – complemented some stingy defensive work to help Villanova craft a 58-50 lead over the Hawks with 7:35 left on the second half clock.
 
When Cam Whitmore completed a traditional 3-point play the Villanova lead was 61-50. But the Hawks scored got a long3-pointer from Reynolds II as part of a 5-0 run to shave the deficit to 61-55 with a little more than five minutes to play. Free throws from Lynn Greer II made it a 7-0 run to close the margin to 61-57 with 3:36 left in regulation.
 
A Jordan Longino turnaround jumper with the shot clock winding down gave Nova a key bucket with a little more than three minutes left got the lead to 63-57. Then came a huge Arcidiacono 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead to 66-57 with 2:20 on the clock.
 
"Chris knows exactly what we do here," stated Neptune. "He was literally born into it. He knows what we expect of him, and he always comes out and tries to execute it."
 
Villanova held firm over the final minutes and left Hagen Arena with its fifth straight win here.
 
Arcidiacono was often singled out by the student section with the chants referencing older brother Ryan.
 
"I've been dealing with that forever," he noted. "It's not anything new. I just try to stay with my teammates and coaches with that type of stuff. The team helped me out with that and I thought I did a good job with it too."
 
The Wildcats open the BIG EAST portion of their slate on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at Finneran Pavilion against St. John's, which is already 1-0 in conference play after downing DePaul earlier this month. Tipoff for that one is set for 6:30 p.m. (FS1 and the Villanova Sports Radio Network.)