ST. JOHN'S 79, BROWN 76: THE NOTEBOOK

by BILL SAN ANTONIO


Though St. John's led by as many as 15 points in the closing minutes of the first half, Brown eventually cut the deficit to one late by shooting 70 percent from the field in the second half.

D.J. Kennedy’s dunk with 56 seconds remaining and a pair of free throws by Malik Boothe shortly thereafter sealed the win for St. John’s.

“We won the game; that’s the bottom line,” Head Coach Norm Roberts said.

Dwight Hardy led the way for the Red Storm, scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting, including 4-6 from three-point range. Hardy hit two key free throws on back-to-back possessions early in the first half to put the Red Storm up 13-9. His four three-point field goals were the only successful attempts in the first half for the Red Storm, as St. John’s shot 4-10 in the half from beyond the arc.

Due to early foul trouble to Justin Burrell and Sean Evans, Roberts went to his second unit of Dele Coker and Justin Brownlee in the frontcourt, who played a combined 24 minutes. They each recorded a block, and Brownlee finished with nine points and three rebounds.

Friday’s game was dominated by tight officiating, as 35 total fouls were called. The two teams shot a combined 43 free throws, and 11 players recorded at least two fouls. With each blown whistle, the referees were greeted to an even louder ovation of boos from the 3,220 fans at Carnesecca Arena. Boothe and Kennedy were both perfect from the line.

During the timeout with 11:58 remaining in the second half, the St. John’s men’s soccer team was recognized at halfcourt for its Big East Tournament win last Sunday over Notre Dame. The Red Storm takes the field Sunday at 6 p.m. against Boston College in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The team reached the College Cup round last year, where it was defeated by Maryland.

Bill San Antonio is the sports editor for the The Torch, The Award-Winning Student Newspaper of St. John's University