Storm beats Davidson, will face Northwestern
Another St. John's lead was on the verge of evaporating at crunch time when Davidson tied the score at 57 with 5:14 left in the second Holiday Festival semifinal Monday night at the Garden. But the Red Storm finally said "Enough," holding the Wildcats scoreless down the stretch to pull out a 62-57 win and snap a two-game losing streak.
"Late in the game,'' said D.J. Kennedy, who had 17 points and nine rebounds, "our mind-set was 'not again.' We refused to lose.''
St. John's (6-3) advanced to tonight's final against Northwestern (8-0), which routed St. Francis of Brooklyn (6-4) in the early semifinal, 92-61.
The Storm took the lead for good on two foul shots by Justin Burrell at 5:04. Davidson (5-5) had a shot to tie, but Brendan McKillop's three-pointer rimmed in and out with 5.6 seconds left before the Storm's Dwight Hardy sealed the win with two foul shots.
Hardy scored 12 points and Justin Brownlee had 11 for St. John's. McKillop topped the Wildcats with 17, shooting 5-for-11 from three-point range.
Coming off consecutive upset losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham, it's obvious the Red Storm still is adapting to the changes Steve Lavin has made to the lineup and playing system. But St. John's had better shot selection and defended aggressively, holding Davidson to 34 percent shooting.
It was an intense second half after Davidson's Clint Mann committed an intentional foul, hauling down Brownlee with 15:50 left. He converted two foul shots, and it turned into a four-point possession when Paris Horne's layup on the awarded possession gave the Red Storm a 37-36 lead. McKillop, the son of Davidson coach Bob McKillop, the former Long Island high school coaching great, then drilled three consecutive threes to put the Wildcats back in front at 45-42 at the 13:18 mark.
Kennedy made the go-ahead basket during a 9-1 St. John's surge that gave the Storm a 51-46 lead. But Davidson got a four-point play from J.P. Kuhlman, who was fouled by Malik Boothe on a made three-pointer, and the Wildcats pulled into a tie at 55 on another three by McKillop at 5:59. That set the stage for a redemptive finish by St. John's.
In the final, St. John's will face a Northwestern team regarded as a potential NCAA Tournament Cinderella. Just making the NCAA field would be a fairy tale come true for Northwestern, the only university from the six major conferences never to make the NCAA field in its 72-year history.
Former Princeton coach Bill Carmody is using mentor Pete Carril's motion offense, but the Wildcats have enough talent to be the Big Ten's highest-scoring team. They were led by John Shurna (26 points) and Drew Crawford (25 points, nine rebounds, eight assists), the son of NBA referee Danny Crawford.
Carmody said he prevailed on former Union College teammate Joel Fisher, who is head of the Garden's college hoops program, for the Festival invite. Last season, the Garden college lineup featured mid-major darlings Butler, Gonzaga and Cornell, all of which performed well in the NCAA tourney. Oh, and Cornell beat the Red Storm in the Festival final a year ago.
