If anyone expected the Red Storm to fold its tents up after an 0-3 BIG EAST start, they must have forgotten about New York City-tough Bronx native Dwight Hardy.
Hardy matched his career high with 19 points, including the tying and winning free throws in the final 8.5 seconds, and St. John's (11-5, 1-3 BIG EAST) beat Cincinnati 52-50 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
With the Red Storm down a pair on the scoreboard, Hardy stole a long inbounds pass by Bearcat forward Rashad Bishop, was fouled with 8.5 seconds left and made both free throws to tie the game at 50-50.
Less than one second elapsed on the scoreboard when Hardy stole another inbounds pass by Bishop and was fouled as he drove to the bucket. With 7.6 seconds left, he made both free throws and Cincinnati guard Deonta Vaughn's 3-point attempt with a second left bounced off the rim.
"Our guys really stayed tough at the end of the game and made some huge plays. Dwight stepped in there and made some plays. And the steal with Justin Brownlee and D.J. Kennedy throwing it out to him was big," said STJ head coach Norm Roberts. "But the whole team stayed strong. I'm really, really happy for our guys."
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