EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.--The next time someone says Saint Joseph's doesn't play anyone, tell them they play Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.

With those two guards on the court, it doesn't matter who's on St. Joe's schedule. The Hawks will beat you if you're Boston University, Drexel or Delaware.

And they'll beat you even if you're No. 17 Wake Forest, a team from the best conference in the nation, a team hardened by the fourth toughest schedule in the land.

St. Joe's (30-1) is three wins from its first national title. If it is true guards win championships, St. Joe's has it made.

St. Joe's is not some sentimental Cinderella. When the clock struck midnight this morning, the Hawks were up 73-68. They stayed up. They weren't going home. They won 84-80.

Nelson and West are basketball's Smith and Wesson. They can shoot from long range and -- spinning through the lane -- from the hip. They even shoot with both hands. Nelson's a righty, West a lefty.

Nelson and Smith are as close as the numbers they wear: 14 and 15. By the end of the game, those numbers glowed high above the floor of the Continental Airlines Arena next to their respective point totals, 24 and 24.

Wake Forest has a few good guards, too. Justin Gray played a brilliant game, scoring 23 points on long-range shots that kept Wake within reach. His 3-pointer with 43.6 seconds left pulled Wake to two points down.

Despite the close finish, the outcome seemed ordained once Nelson flashed his crossover dribble and West reeled off three quick buckets to eliminate Wake's early lead.

The St. Joe's pair set the tone and the tempo of the game. They play terrific defense and never seemed to tire. Both played all 40 minutes.

It's was an environment in which even Wake's best guards struggled. Freshman Chris Paul, the ACC rookie of the year, had an off night. Taron Downey was not a big factor.

Meanwhile, Nelson and West so consumed Wake's defense that the Demon Deacons had to give room to the Hawks' other shooters.

Pat Carroll made them pay for that, drilling 5 of 7 3-point attempts to break the back of Wake rallies. Tyrone Barley did more damage, shooting 4-of-6 on 3-point tries.

"Once I got the chance to penetrate, they were leaving him right open," Nelson said. "For him, [a 3-pointer] is like a layup."

But defense was never a strength of this Wake team. It finished last in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense.

The Deacons beat teams by outscoring them. Wake is the second-highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 83.7 points per game.

Wake went after St. Joe's where it was supposed to be vulnerable -- underneath. It worked, but not well enough. Wake's 6-foot-9 center Eric Williams bulled his way to 19 points and 6-9 forward Jamaal Levy contributed 12.

But St. Joe's doesn't seem to care much about big men, even its own. The Hawks' 6-11 center, Dwayne Jones, took three shots and made one. When foul trouble forced him to the bench early in the second half, St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli went with a lineup that looked high school-sized -- four guards and 6-7 forward John Bryant as the big man.

Wake was disappointed here in the New York area where the season began with much promise at a tournament in Madison Square Garden. But the season was a success for a team without a scholarship senior. They'll be back and may go further.

"I will say this about Wake Forest: Anybody who doesn't think that team is going to contend for the national championship as long as Chris Paul is in school, you've lost your mind," Martelli said.

But this season they were unfortunate in the end. They were the somebody who had to play the team who played nobody.

Now that nobody is somebody, too -- Nelson and West.