I happily devoted another Saturday afternoon of my life to my beloved St. John's University men's basketball team.
The trek from the East Side of Manhattan out to Jamaica Estates, Queens is not one of my favorite trips. The M86 to the Lexington/86th Street subway 6-Train to 51st/Lexington to the E-Train to Queens to Union Tpke/Kew Gardens to the Q46 bus down Union Tpke to Utopia Parkway and the campus of St. John's.
Met my brother near Dante's, one of the great Italian restaurants in NY, and headed into Bent Hall for the seminar.
I will need some time to make a thoughtful post on the event, as it was very, very enjoyable. So, give me 24-hours or so to gather my thoughts, notes, photos and I will promise a good post.
That is all the good news. The bad news is below. And in one, quick descriptive sentence:
St. John's is terrible. They will struggle mightily in the BIG EAST this year. Here is the Niagara SID office's recap of the game today, the first time the Purple Eagles defeated the Johnnie's at Alumni Hall/Canesecca Arena in 44 years.
Niagara Earns Special Win At St. John's, 77-73
QUEENS, N.Y. - Behind an aggressive offensive attack and a changing defensive strategy, the Niagara men's basketball outlasted St. John's inside Carnesecca Arena on Saturday, 77-73. The Purple Eagles outscored the Red Storm 18-9 in the final five minutes and went to the free throw line a season high 46 times en route to the four-point win.
"This was a great win for our team," head coach Joe Mihalich said. "This is not just another game for us. It is a special rivalry between two Vincentian schools meeting for the 98th time. This is not just another win for us."
The victory marked the first time in 44 years that a Niagara team defeated St. John's inside Carnesecca Arena (formerly Alumni Hall). It also gave Mihalich his second win over a BIG EAST team in three seasons.
The Purple Eagle defense forced 18 turnovers while committing just seven in the win.
Senior Charron Fisher (Pennsauken, N.J.) continued his offensive prowess with his third-straight 30-point performance. The nation's leading scorer poured in 30 points and pulled in 14 rebounds. Fisher took 12 of the 46 free throw attempts, just four less than the Red Storm attempted all game.
"Coming into the game one of our keys was to change the defense up and keep them off balance, and I think we were able to do that," Mihalich added. "At the end of the day, this is a big win for us."
Sophomore Demetrius Williamson (Chicago, Ill.) gave NU the lead for good with 2:45 remaining, nailing an open three-pointer making the score, 69-68. Classmate Tyrone Lewis (Levittown, Pa.) followed that with a difficult off-balance jumper with the shot clock winding down to give Niagara a three-point advantage with 1:27 remaining. Lewis caught the inbound pass at his feet with three second on the shot clock and was forced to put up a shot while fading away, hitting nothing but net.
The Purple Eagles remaining six points came from the line, as Niagara went 32-of-46 from the charity stripe. St. John's, however, went 9-of-16 from the line.
Despite trailing by six points four times in the first half, NU went into the locker room trailing 38-36. In the second half, the Purple Eagle defense continued to collapse on freshman stand-out Justin Burrell, forcing the Red Storm to settle for outside jumpers. SJU sank 12 three-pointers in the loss, six in each half, but hit a cold spell midway through the second stanza, thanks to Mihalich's revolving defenses.
Fisher made big basket after big basket to keep the Purple Eagles close, then relied on his teammates to seal the deal. Burrell fouled out with 3:41 remaining and Niagara ended the game on a 14-9 run, with the senior scoring four points in the run.
Senior Stanley Hodge (Washington, D.C.) finished the game with 17 points and seven boards, while Lewis chipped in with 14. Freshman Anthony Nelson (Plainfield, N.J.) played 39 minutes, scoring 12 points, dishing out four assists and nabbing a career-high five steals. His biggest asset to the contest, however was in the turnover category, where he had none.
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