Published: December 05, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y.
Senior Lamont Hamilton posted his 14th career double-double with
13 points and 11 rebounds to lead a group of four double-figure
scorers, and the Red Storm used a strong second half to pull away
from St. Francis (N.Y.) and win, 59-42, at Carnesecca Arena Tuesday
night. Daryll Hill (11 points), Eugene Lawrence (10) and Anthony
Mason Jr. (10) all contributed double-digit point totals to help
St. John’s to its third straight victory.
With the win, St. John’s improved to 5-3 on the year and 61-12
in an all-time series with St. Francis that dates back to 1907-08
season, while the Terriers fell to 0-9 on the young season.
Hamilton was a force inside and grabbed seven of his game-high
11 rebounds in the second half. The senior led the way for the Red
Storm, while Mason Jr. continued his recent hot streak with his
sixth straight double-figure scoring game. Lawrence turned in an
all-around performance with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists
and a steal, and Hill scored nine of his 11 points in the second
half.
After starting the first half 5-of-17 from the floor and
trailing 14-10 with less than seven minutes remaining, Avery
Patterson and Hamilton each connected on a couple of quick 3’s as
part of an 8-2 run that gave St. John’s a 20-16 lead. The teams
traded mini-runs the rest of the way, as St. John’s bounced back
from a 6-0 Terrier spurt with eight unanswered points of its own to
close the period with a 28-22 lead.
Hamilton paced the Red Storm with nine points on a perfect
3-of-3 shooting in the half and added a team-high four rebounds.
Mason Jr. scored all six of his points during the Red Storm’s 8-0
run at the end of the period, and Lawrence chipped in with four
points, three assists and no turnovers.
Senior forward Allan Sheppard led the Terriers with six points
in first half and finished with a team-high 13 in the game. Junior
guard Jamaal Womack scored seven and grabbed seven rebounds.
The teams went back and forth in the opening minutes of the
second period, but the Terriers never got within five points.
Freshman Qa’rraan Calhoun gave the Red Storm a spark off the bench,
scoring all eight of his points and blocking a shot within the
first six minutes of the half.
The Red Storm used a 13-2 run midway through the second frame to
turn a six-point margin (37-31) into a 17-point lead (50-33) with
5:11 remaining. Hill began the run with a jumper with 10:18
remaining and finished it by slashing to the basket for a layup at
the 5:11 mark. The senior scored nine points in the second half to
help the Red Storm push its lead into double digits, where it would
stay for the remaining five minutes of the contest.
St. John’s hits the road for a Dec. 9 contest at Niagara, before
returning home for games at Carnesecca Arena against NJIT (Dec. 21)
and Columbia (Dec. 23) and the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at
Madison Square Garden (Dec. 28-29).