St. John's gets ugly win over Stony Brook
Photo credit: Newsday/Photo By Patrick E. McCarthy | Queens - December 2, 2009 - Stony Brook vs. St. John's men's basketball. St. John's University's Paris Horne races inside ahead of Stony Brook's Chris Martin. (Photo by Patrick E. McCarthy )
In the final 2:18 last night at Carnesecca Arena, St. John's saw its 18-point lead over Stony Brook trimmed to eight as the Seawolves hit four three-pointers down the stretch to lose to the Red Storm, 63-55. Up in the stands, some St. John's students were chanting "We want Duke."
Easy for them to say. They don't have to line up and face the sixth-ranked team in the country and Coach K on national television Saturday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
It's a great opportunity, and that's what coach Norm Roberts said to his team after St. John's ran its record to 6-0 for the first time since the 1994-95 season.But if there's one thing the Johnnies understand, it's that they have to play much better than they did against the Seawolves.
Reflecting on the ragged ending, D.J. Kennedy, who led the Red Storm with 19 points, said, "This was an ugly, ugly game, but we got the win. Against Duke, we basically have to limit our turnovers."
St. John's had 15 turnovers against Stony Brook, shot only 39.6 percent from the field and made 15 of 26 foul shots. Perimeter scorers Paris Horne and Dwight Hardy shot a combined 1-for-10 and totaled three points.
The Johnnies were effective against Stony Brook when they went inside to Sean Evans (12 points, nine rebounds) and Justin Brownlee (11 points, seven rebounds). They did that early in the second half and got some penetration from Kennedy during a 12-4 run that pushed St. John's lead to 43-26.
And then they seemed to forget about the inside game for long stretches when they allowed the Seawolves to hang around. That can't happen at Duke. As Roberts said, "We can't play on the perimeter because they guard so well. You have to use your quickness . . . The biggest thing is you have to compete with Duke every single play. You have to ball up."There should be no letting up against Duke the way St. John's did at the end when Stony Brook's Bryan Dougher (13 points) and Muhammad El-Amin (11) each hit a pair of threes in the final two minutes.
Thinking again of the Blue Devils, Roberts said, "No matter what happens, they're going to learn from it. Hopefully, they'll be learning from a win. You better go in there thinking you've got to guard them. It's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere, the type every college player wants to play in."Stony Brook women lose. Stony Brook's women's basketball team fell at Monmouth, 61-45. Kirsten Jeter and Misha Horsey each had 10 points for the Seawolves (1-5). Alysha Womack had 15 for Monmouth (3-3).
