AMHERST – Michael Steadman raised his arms from his hips toward the sky, galvanizing the Mullins Center crowd.
His point guard Noah Fernandes still had a free throw left to shoot, as the UMass men’s basketball team held a perilous one-point lead against Saint Joseph’s with 1.8 seconds remaining. Steadman kept flapping his arms as the fans in Amherst – a season-high 3,127 of them – increased their volume.
They were silent when Fernandes hit the first attempt to give UMass the lead. Steadman brought the noise anyway.
“I knew it was green. On God. I knew it was good,” Steadman said. “He’s a dog. He was going to make it.”
Fernandes didn’t even notice the volume. He swished the second shot in a row to secure a 69-67 home victory Saturday.
“It’s just reps at the end of the day. You can’t make them all, but when you do it consistently, usually in times like that, it goes to show for sure,” Fernandes said.
It was just UMass’ second home win in its past six games at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen toed the line bordering disaster for much of the final six minutes but never trailed.
Trailing 67-64 with 6:08 remaining, the Minutemen pushed the ball after Hawks big Ejike Obinna missed a layup. They created two open 3s for Rich Kelly, the Atlantic 10’s most dangerous shooter from beyond the arc, but he passed both in favor of a baseline drive. He’d missed all four 3s so far and didn’t settle. Kelly pumped faked, stepped around then absorbed a hit from Obinna before bouncing a finger roll off the window. He then sank the free throw to tie the game at 67 with 5:52 left. Those were his only points of the game, but Kelly distributed five assists.
“Rich has unbelievable self awareness,” UMass coach Matt McCall said. “He wants to win.”
Javohn Garcia denied the Hawks a rebuttal when he stole the ball from Obinna on Saint Joseph’s next possession. He finished with eight points, that steal and a block.
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— UMass Basketball (@UMassBasketball) February 12, 2022
“Little stuff that doesn’t go on the stat sheet denying and a few deflections, those were big,” Fernandes said. “He definitely stepped up. He always does that whenever we need him to.”
So does Fernandes. He pump faked Cameron Brown into fouling him behind the 3-point line when 4:40 left. Then the Mattapoisett native hit all three foul shots for a 60-57 advantage.
Saint Joseph’s (10-13, 4-8) always had a response, though. Jordan Hall made two layups that cut UMass’ lead back to 1, and Taylor Funk – who leads the A-10 in triples – hit just his second 3 of the game to make it 63-62 at 1:46.
UMass (11-12, 4-7) held a 67-64 lead with 13 seconds left after a Garcia free throw and called for an intentional foul to send the Hawks to the line and prevent a tying 3. Hall sank the first free throw and missed the second, but Saint Joseph’s secured the offensive rebound.
The Hawks drew up a perfect out of bounds play, and Obinna tied the game with dunk with eight seconds left.
Fernandes dribbled the ball up the court and drew the foul that earned him the game-winning free throws. He finished with 10 points and nine assists.
The Minutemen had four players in double figures: T.J. Weeks scored 12 (four assists), Trent Buttrick (nine rebounds) added 11 and Steadman led the way with 19.
The big man scored 11 of UMass’ first 13 points, putting on a clinic in the block on Marcus Camby Day.
“My biggest focus is just being aggressive, putting my will on the game and not letting the game come to me,” Steadman said. “A lot of it has to do with confidence and a mindset more than just ability. I can obviously put the ball in the basket when I’m having my mind right.”
UMass couldn’t put the ball int he basket from beyond the arc for most of the game. The Minutemen only hit 7-of-25 3s but put a renewed emphasis on attacking the basket. They scored 28 points in the paint and made 14-of-19 free throws.
“I thought we had some really good looks that didn’t go down,” McCall said. “I’m fine with the 3s, the wide open ones, but let’s get some pressure at the basket. The free throw margin is a huge margin in the game.”
Saint Joseph’s only shot three free throws in the game. UMass was called for 11 fouls compared to 13 by the Hawks.
“When you shoot three free throws the entire game and you have an illegal screen called on you on an important possession, we stand no chance and have to play perfectly. And UMass deserves it, they won the game, but 19-3 on the free throw line…” Saint Joseph’s coach Billy Lange said, trailing off.
UMass honored former national player of the year Marcus Camby before the game. The first 1,000 fans through the gates received a black replica jersey and commemorative poster. He signed autographs after the game.
“Marcus has been so good to me in the good times and the bad. He’s super positive. He’s got that smile on his face. He loves this place,” McCall said. “If there’s anything I want our guys to see from Marcus is his passion for his school, the passion and aggression he played with. All those guys from the 90s are passionate about UMass. It was awesome, a bunch of former guys sitting behind our bench. It’s a special day.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.