Phil Martelli said "the better team won" after Saint Joseph's fell, 76-64, Saturday to La Salle at the Palestra.

That didn't stop him from citing  "poor refereeing" in the context of what he'd considered to be the ignoring of Explorers allegedly flopping in front of Hawk Halil Kanacevic in an attempt to draw fouls.

This, from Martelli:

“The flops have to stop. It's just silly. That's just silly. Nothing to do with the game. But it did impact his game. It's just silly. It's poor refereeing. But I think that Halil has … we've been able to restrict his game a little bit and put the ball more in the post. What I want him to become is a a great layup shooter. He is a good layup shooter. But he is not a great layup shooter yet. He stayed with it. He had composure in the second half. (I was) just kind of probing and looking to see if we could play three bigs. But the ball was just on a string from from (Ramon) Galloway to (Tyreek) Duren.

“Halil? That's what he has given us every day in practice. And to be honest with you, some of the inconsistency that you're seeing, that's what we see in practice. We think like, 'That can't be the same guy, not from two plays ago.' But Halil has practiced in a very mature way since he came back from his suspension.”

Kanacevic was suspended by Martelli for two games earlier in the season after he'd taunted Villanova fans in the Pavilion. For that, Martelli says, the alleged La Salle flopping had a chance to rattle Kanacevic, who was not available for comment afterward.

“Because he's mine, I can say this: He is a highly emotional guy, OK?” Martelli said. “And those flops can set you to getting engaged with referees. He did last year. And he hasn't this year. Look: He had a meltdown at Villanova and he is accountable for that. But he hasn't engaged in anything. And when it is that poor --- when it is that evident to everybody in the place except the guy who blows the whistle --- that can set you off. But he's maintained it.”