Down by one, with 6.2 seconds left in Tuesday’s game against St.
Bonaventure, the St. John’s men’s
basketball team needed someone to step up and be a hero.
After the Bonnies overcame a 7-poin deficit, junior point guard Malik Boothe put on his best superman act and made the play of the game, driving the length of the floor and drawing the foul on the Bonnies’ Chris Matthews to receive the potential two winning free throws.
“This was a play where my coach wanted me to make a play for myself or for someone else and I saw the open lane,” said Boothe.
“I knew that I was going to make those free throws. I was worried about getting a stop on the defensive end.”
Boothe calmly made the two free throws to lift St. John’s over host St. Bonaventure at 69-68 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY.
“He wanted the ball in his hands and we wanted him to make a play,” said Head Coach Norm Roberts.
“I thought our guys played hard and fought well for this win,” said
Roberts. “We were very tough but our
we didn’t execute that well. This early in
the season, teams aren’t going to
execute well. Malik making those free throws for us were huge.”
Besides Boothe, St. John’s was led by the dynamic duo of juniors D.J.
Kennedy and Paris Horne, who scored 18 points and 15 points, respectively.
Junior forward Sean Evans added nine points and two rebounds while Dwight Hardy and Justin Brownlee both came off the bench and added seven points apiece.
As a team, the Red Storm shot
25-for-36 from the field, including 8-for-17 from three-point range.
St. John’s also received a great boost off the bench from the return
of freshman point guard Malik Stith, who split time at point guard with Boothe and Hardy.
“He (Stith) allows us to play faster and play harder,” said Roberts.
Stith missed the team’s opener against LIU due to injury.
Andrew Nicholson of St. Bonaventure led all scorers with 26 points.
With the win, St. John’s improves to 2-0, while St. Bonaventure drops to 1-1.
“I’m excited about this team,” said Roberts. “We needed a win like this to be able to take the next step forward
and it was a great atmosphere tonight.”
Despite the close finish, Boothe said the close finish was good for the team, especially early in the season.
“This was a great test for us early on the road,” said Boothe. “You never know with any of these teams, on any given night any team can win.”
St. John’s hosts Brown this
Friday at Carnesecca Arena at 7 p.m.
