Published: December 23, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y.
Senior Wooden and Naismith Award candidate Lamont Hamilton
erupted for a season and career-high 36 points, lifting St. John’s
to a 76-70 victory in Queens on Saturday and giving the Red Storm
its first six-game win streak since the 1999-2000 season. Hamilton
carried the Red Storm with 20 first-half points alone and point
guard Eugene Lawrence orchestrated an 18-5 run to open the second
half and allow St. John’s to pull away for good.
Hamilton’s point total was the most for a St. John’s player
since Marcus Hatten scored 44 in a 75-59 win over Rutgers on March
6, 2003. Lawrence, the Red Storm junior captain, finished with
seven points, six rebounds and a career-high tying 10 assists,
marking his sixth game of the year with seven or more helpers.
With the win, the Red Storm improved to 8-3 overall and 7-1 in
its early-season stretch on campus at Carnesecca Arena, while the
Lions fell to 7-4.
Hamilton was a warrior in the first period, netting St. John’s
first 10 points of the game. The Red Storm, which as a team ranks
third in the BIG EAST in 3-point field goal percentage at 39.9
percent, struggled early from outside (18.2 percent, 2-for-11 from
long range) and Columbia took advantage. The Lions led by as many
as eight points, with a 22-14 advantage at the 9:01 mark, before
the Red Storm went on a 15-7 run to knot the score at 29-29 before
the halftime buzzer.
Lawrence led the charge out of the locker room, spurning the Red
Storm to scores on their first three possessions in the second
stanza. He fed Hamilton for a thunderous alley-oop dunk and found a
slashing Tomas Jasiulionis in transition for two quick buckets,
forcing Columbia head coach Joe Jones to burn a timeout. After the
break Lawrence was back at it, forcing a steal and using a
behind-the-back pass to create a layup for Anthony Mason Jr. Mason
Jr. was fouled on the play and converted on the free throw to put
the Red Storm up by a 36-29 margin.
Columbia’s Justin Armstrong hit two 3-pointers in the final
1:09, and Niko Armstrong drilled a pair of free throws and Patrick
Foley hit a short jumper to bring the Lions back within four, but
Avery Patterson and Lawrence made the necessary free throws to
preserve the victory. Patterson, who paced the BIG EAST by making
his first 18 free throws of the 2006-07 season, finished with six
points on the night. The junior went 2-for-5 at the line, bringing
his streak of perfection to an end. He is still among the league
leaders at an impressive 20-for-23 (.869) from the charity
stripe.
John Baumann, Foley and Armstrong led the Lions with 13, 12 and
12, respectively, while Mason Jr. contributed 11 points for the Red
Storm behind Hamilton’s monster effort.
St. John’s takes a short break for the Christmas Holiday before
attempting to capture its third-straight Holiday Festival title,
presented this year by Aeropostale. The Red Storm returns to
Madison Square Garden to begin its title defense on Thursday, Dec.
28 at 8:30 p.m., taking on Boston University. Saint Joseph’s faces
Hofstra at 6:30 p.m. in the other opening round game.