The St. Joseph’s Hawk may never die, but will it ever lose?

Jameer Nelson hopes not, and as he did in last night’s 83-58 victory over Massachusetts at the Mullins Center, the nation’s premier point guard is doing whatever he can to prevent it from happening.

“I don’t want to lose a game this year,” the 5-foot-11 native of Chester, Pa. Said. “Nobody likes to lose, and we know if we keep winning then we have a chance to make something special happen. I just always ask myself ‘what can I do right now to best help my team, and then I try to go out and do that.'”

“It’s worked pretty well this year, so far.”

And worked it has. Nelson, a Pre-season First Team All-America selection has had a stellar campaign thus far, averaging team highs in scoring average (20.2 points per game) as well as assists per game (5.38). Nelson has also reached double figures in scoring in 35 consecutive contests dating back to last season, and twice in 2003-04 has he come up just short of his first career triple-double.

In other words, Jameer Nelson does it all.

“He’s just a dynamic player,” St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli said. “His mental capacity on the court is unmatched, as is his vision, but he just always is able to pick and choose exactly which part of his game he needs to elevate for the betterment of the team.”

“That’s the mark of a great player.”

With his 19 points against the Minutemen, No. 14 pulled within 66 points of 2,000 for his illustrious career, and within 49 of becoming the Hawks all-time leading scorer. His 240 career steals also rank second in school history, just 13 shy of becoming the historical leader in that category as well.

So how do you stop Jameer Nelson? As UMass and coach Steve Lappas found out for the second time this season last night, there might not be away.

Leading 6-3 at the 15:36 mark of the first half, Nelson pulled the Hawks to within one with a jumper, and then proceeded to drop seven of his team’s next 13 points to push St. Joe’s out in front 18-13.

Then at what may have been the game’s most critical juncture, Nelson drew a foul while in the act of shooting a 3-pointer with just over two seconds remaining in the half, and his two made free throws combined with a basket by backcourt mate Delonte West off of his missed third turned what was a very competitive six-point affair into a 10 point game at 41-31.

However what may be most impressive about the National Player of the Year candidate is his aforementioned ability to alter his game to best suit his team and the flow of the action. After scoring 17 points in the first half and dishing out 2 assists, Nelson recorded just two points in the second half and handed out six helpers.

As Lappas will agree, for Nelson and St. Joe’s it’s simply what’s worked for 25 consecutive games.

“…Nelson took over the game,” Lappas said. “[He] starts going off the dribble, which [both Nelson and West] are very hard to stop off the dribble, and when you make a good play to cut them off with help they kick it to a guy he makes a three.

“That’s kind of been the formula for them all year.”

So with a plethora of national attention following their every move, Jameer Nelson and the St. Joseph’s Hawks are two wins removed from not only a favorable place in Atlantic 10 conference history but, along with No. 1 Stanford, have a chance to become the first wire-to-wire unbeaten since the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 1991.

Nonetheless, Nelson refuses to soak up any of the hype or media attention, because for arguably the nation’s best player, the task will always remain the same:

“All I can do is just go out and be Jameer Nelson, play my game and do whatever I can to help my team keep winning basketball games, because in the end that’s all that matters and is all I can do.”

And why not? It’s now worked 25 consecutive times and counting…