Brownlee's layup in final seconds boost Storm

On Sunday, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski raved about how Justin Brownlee did everything from scoring to rebounding to passing to help St. John's upset the defending national champions. Last night at Carnesecca Arena, it was Rutgers coach Mike Rice's turn to praise Brownlee for scoring the winning layup with his injured left hand with 3.8 seconds left in a 58-56 Red Storm victory.

"That's big-time," Rice said of Brownlee.

Indeed, it was. Brownlee said he suffered a nondisplaced hairline fracture of his left thumb when Duke's Nolan Smith fouled him with about five minutes left in the Red Storm's stunning 93-78 victory at the Garden. "It feels good; I don't feel too much pain," Brownlee said. "I know I can use it. I drove to the left side without even thinking about it."

With 2:36 left in a tough defensive struggle, St. John's (13-8, 5-5 Big East) held a 52-45 lead. Rutgers (12-10, 3-7) was going begging for points. After Dane Miller's basket early in the second half, Jonathan Mitchell, who led the Knights with 21 points, scored their next 12 points. It might have been more, except he was cut while being fouled by St. John's and had to go to the locker room.

Rice inserted Robert Lumpkins, who made two fouls in Mitchell's place and then hit three straight three-pointers, the last of which tied the score at 56 with 16.3 seconds showing. At the other end, St. John's coach Steve Lavin called a timeout to set up a play with six seconds left. He set up a play for Brownlee, who had taken only five shots to that point and admitted he was going easy on the thumb to avoid reinjury.

"Coach knew they were switching [on defense], and he drew up a good play for me to flash back to the basket," Brownlee said.

"It's a play that makes sense when teams are switching," Lavin added. "I felt I could have him roll back to the ball after they switched."

Brownlee took the return pass from Malik Boothe and went up with the left hand to lay it in with his thumb swathed in an elastic bandage to hold a fiberglass splint in place. "I can't palm the ball the way I usually can," Brownlee said. "I wasn't in total control, but I could control it enough to get the basket."

Brownlee managed nine points, five rebounds and two assists and played 33 minutes. Dwight Hardy led the Red Storm with 15 points, and Paris Horne and Justin Burrell each added 12, including eight in a 12-3 run that allowed St. John's to take a 48-38 lead midway through the second half.

"We were taking a lot of tough shots that helped them get back in the game," Horne said. "Once we started moving the ball, we got in the flow."

Just when it seemed the Red Storm was in control, Rutgers' Mitchell was injured, bringing Lumpkins and his hot hand off the bench.

After Brownlee's basket, though, it was Rutgers' Miller who took the final shot with Lumpkins (13 points) watching helplessly as it bounced away.