ST JOHN’S 59, ST FRANCIS 42
With St. John’s grasping onto a slim six point lead over the St. Francis Terriers, the Red Storm went into halftime desperately needing a boost of energy if they were to pull away from the mook that was the first half.
“We had some excellent shots,” said St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts, “but the ball just wasn’t going in. Sometimes you’re going have games like this where you are going to have to grind it out.”
Luckily for Coach Roberts, grinding it out is a forte as the Red Storm defeated St. Francis 59-42 Tuesday night at home at Carnesecca Arena.
Senior Forward Lamont Hamilton, recorded his 14th career double-double leading St. John’s with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Eugene Lawrence and sophomore forward Anthony Mason Jr. pitched in with solid efforts scoring 10 points a piece.
Six-foot-eight freshman forward, Qa’rraan Calhoun came off the bench to ignite the Red Storm, scoring all 8 of his points in the first six minutes of the second half.
“Qa’rraan played well tonight. He’s an energy guy, he does everything,” said Hamilton who is averaging 11.7 points to along with his team leading 7 rebounds per game.
St. Francis’ senior forward Allan Sheppard led the Terriers with six points in the first half, finishing with a team-high 13. Junior guard, Jamal Womack scored seven points and grabbed seven boards in the loss.
“We tried to keep it an ugly game. We are not a prolific scoring team so we have to be prepared to guard,” said St. Francis Head Coach Brian Nash.
Nash, who with the loss is 0-9 for the season, held the Red Storm to a lowly 35% from the field; including 2-for-11 shooting from the three.
“I’m happy with our effort; we’re a 0-9 team but we played hard and we played physical,” Nash said. “St. John’s, because of their athleticism, excels in an up tempo style game. We had to slow downthem down.”
Coach Roberts maintained, while the game was a tough watch for the fans, it was a game that was needed for the team.
“I’m so not happy with the turnovers and our execution, but I’m happy with us grinding it out,” said Roberts. “A game like this shows us that even when shots aren’t going in you got to stay tough.”
The win pushes the Red Storm’s record to five wins and three losses for the season. They hit the road next for a December 9 game at Niagara, before returning home for games at Carnesecca Arena against NJIT on December 21, and Columbia on December 23.
