Saint Joe's moves into Elite Eight

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Saint Joseph&#39;s aren&#39;t ready to pack it in quite yet.<br> <br> With No. 1 nemesis Billy Packer watching from the front row and their fans chanting his name in the final minute, the Hawks showed they were a worthy No. 1 seed. Nelson and West each scored 24 points Thursday night, keying an 84-80 victory over Wake Forest in the semifinals of the East Rutherford Regional.<br> <br> Despite all the back-and-forth buildup between coach Phil Martelli and Packer, the CBS analyst and former Wake Forest star who doubted the Hawks, this game was decided solely by the nation&#39;s best backcourt.<br> <br> ``To me, it&#39;s about the kids and how tough they&#39;ve been. It&#39;s really not about sticking our chests out,&#39;&#39; Martelli said. ``We&#39;re one of the best teams in the country and the best story in college basketball.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Martelli walked across the court after the game and shook hands with Packer, who had not seen the Hawks in person before Thursday night.<br> <br> Having said the Hawks did not deserve a top seed, Packer smiled broadly as Saint Joseph&#39;s rooters razzed him. He turned to them and said, ``You&#39;re exactly where you should be.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Hawks (30-1) advanced to play second-seeded Oklahoma State, which banged its way past Pittsburgh 63-51, on Saturday night for a trip to the Final Four. Saint Joseph&#39;s and the Cowboys have never met in basketball.<br> <br> Cheered on by Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell and Temple alum Bill Cosby, the little school from Philadelphia led 76-68 before Wake Forest whittled its deficit down to 82-80 with 11.9 seconds left.<br> <br> But then Nelson escaped a double-team trap in the corner and passed to West, who was fouled. West made both free throws, and the Hawk mascot began flapping in earnest.<br> <br> Martelli claimed all along that the Hawks should be regarded as highly as schools such as Connecticut and Oklahoma State.<br> <br> ``We certainly don&#39;t look like these teams, but we sure do play like them,&#39;&#39; he said.<br> <br> Martelli was mostly silent during the game, saving his remarks for his players and the officials. The Hawks paid no mind to Packer, either.<br> <br> ``As a player, I don&#39;t get into that stuff. I leave it to Coach, he does all the trash talking,&#39;&#39; Nelson said.<br> <br> Nelson, a unanimous pick as an All-American guard, and West took over starting early in the second half when smaller Saint Joseph&#39;s ran into foul trouble. The Hawks reached a regional final for the first time since 1981, when they were eliminated by Indiana.<br> <br> Pat Carroll added 17 points, making five of the Hawks&#39; 12 3-pointers, and Tyrone Barley had 13. Along with Nelson and West, the four players combined for all but six of the Saint Joseph&#39;s points.<br> <br> Justin Gray led fourth-seeded Wake Forest (21-10) with 23 points and Eric Williams had 19. ACC freshman of the year Chris Paul was held scoreless for the first 13.5 minutes and finished with 12.<br> <br> ``We had a great team this year,&#39;&#39; Paul said. ``A lot of people talked about us being good next year, but we thought we could make a run deep in the tournament this year, so it&#39;s tough to take.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The game took a dangerous turn for the Hawks two minutes into the second half when big men John Bryant and Dwayne Jones each drew their fourth fouls.<br> <br> At that point, Martelli did the only thing he could with his already smaller team, going to a four-guard offense and putting his fortunes in the hands of Nelson and West. It worked, with both of them hitting shots that turned a 43-42 edge into a 51-44 cushion.<br> <br> Paul tried to push the pace for the Demon Deacons. He ran up and down all right, but had trouble scoring as Barley, the designated stopper, came off the bench to hound him.<br> <br> ``I give a lot of credit to Barley. He was aggressive on defense,&#39;&#39; Paul said.<br> <br> Wake Forest forced the ball inside right from the start, as expected. A couple of quick baskets by bulky Williams, helped by Paul&#39;s speed, put the Demon Deacons up 15-6.<br> <br> The Hawks hardly panicked. Instead, Nelson grabbed a rebound and went the length of the court, finishing off with a nifty crossover dribble for his first points 6.5 minutes into the game.<br> <br> With Nelson and West flipping neat, quick passes to each other under the basket, Saint Joseph&#39;s quickly made up the difference. They each scored 11 points in the first half as the teams seesawed toward the break, with Wake Forest taking a 38-37 lead on Vytas Danelius&#39; foul shot with a minute left.