Published: January 11, 2007
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.
On the road for the second straight game, the St. John's men's
basketball team fell to Seton Hall, 79-63, at Continental Airlines
Arena on Thursday night. Sophomore Anthony Mason Jr. was a force
for the Red Storm, scoring a game-high 22 points and adding a
career-high 12 rebounds for his second road double-double of the
season.
With the loss, St. John's fell to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in the
BIG EAST, while Seton Hall fell/improved to 10-5 overall, 2-1 in
league play and 8-1 at home.
Mason Jr., who is averaging 9.3 rebounds over the last four
contests, got off to a quick start and scored 16 points in the
first half. The sophomore knocked down 8-of-13 field goals and a
perfect 6-of-6 free throws to lead the team in scoring for the
fourth time on the year. Lamont Hamilton scored in double figures
for the team-leading 12th time of the season, netting 13 points on
4-of-7 shooting.
Seton Hall used a 26-6 run to turn a 44-43 deficit into a 69-50
lead with just over three minutes remaining in the contest. Junior
guard Jamar Nutter sparked the run with five quick points and
finished the game as one of four Pirates in double figures, scoring
17 and knocking down three 3-pointers.
Seton Hall steadily built leads of 15-8, 21-10 and 30-17
throughout the first half, but St. John's responded by holding the
Pirates scoreless and going on a 14-0 run for a four-minute span
late in the period. Mason Jr. scored 10 points over the team's run
and finished the half with 16 on 6-of-7 shooting. Hamilton, the
team's leading scorer in the previous three games, added nine
points on 2-of-4 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws. As a team, the
Red Storm shot 52 percent from the field (13-of-25) and 81.8
percent from the free throw line (9-of-11) in the opening
stanza.
Guards Larry Davis and Eugene Harvey both scored in double
figures for the Pirates, with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Harvey grabbed four rebounds and led all players with five assists
in the period.
A back-and-forth start to the second half gave way to Seton
Hall's big 26-6 run and 19-point lead with 3:08 remaining in the
game. Eugene Lawrence assisted on three straight baskets to close
the game.
St. John's returns home to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for
a 9:30 p.m. contest against No. 22 Connecticut. The Red Storm plays
three of its next four games at home, as it also welcomes Syracuse
on Jan. 21 and Notre Dame on Jan. 23.