ST. JOHN'S FALLS IN FESTIVAL FINALE

December 21, 2008


by Ray Floriani

NEW YORK CITY - A day after handily defeating Marist in the semifinal, St.John’s met their match. Virginia Tech defeated the Red Storm 81-67 before slightly over 2000 at Madison Square Garden. The win gave Virginia Tech a second straight Aeropostale Holiday Festival title. Tech defeated St.John’s is last year’s championship.

St.John’s, playing minus the injured Justin Burrell and Anthony Mason (out for the season) fell behind 9-3 early. The Storm got right back into it largely on the strength of their three point shooting. Paris Horne led the way with 11 for the Storm and shot 3 of 6 beyond the arc.

The second half saw Tech build on its 39-35 halftime lead. Sean Evans of St.John’s was limited to three minutes the first half due to foul trouble. The 6-8 sophomore had a strong second half, finishing with 13 points 8 rebounds. The Storm however shot an icy 0 of 8 beyond the arc the second half, a performance that makes for long NCAA Basketball Odds against a quality opponent like the Hokies. Credit that to the Tech zone that trapped the wings and extended deeper the final twenty minutes. “We mainly went 1-3-1 to keep our guys out of foul trouble,” Tech coach Seth Greenburg said. “In my eighteen years of coaching I don’t remember ever playing as much zone.”

Offensively the Hokies also exhibited good crisp ball movement, finding the likes of A.D. Vassallo who scored a game high 24 points. Malcom Delaney added 22 points, handed out 8 assists and earned the Lou Carnesecca Most Valuable Player award. “In the second half, Greenburg said, “we made better decisions on offense. We screened and read the defense.”

“We competed,” St.John’s coach Norm Robers said. “But we hit a five or six minute stretch where we didn’t execute and gave up too many offensive rebounds. Against an ACC team a stretch like that can change the game. But give them credit. They (Tech) wore us down.”

Members of the All Tournament team were :
KJ Matsui, Columbia
Ryan Schneider, Marist
DJ Kennedy , St.John’s
Sean Evans, St.John’s
A.D. Vassallo, Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is 8-4. St.John’s falls to 9-2 , the other loss to another ACC team, Boston College in the Pre-Season NIT. ACC ‘tour’ for the Storm continues as they host Miami on Saturday at noon at the Garden.