Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
The St. John’s Red Storm (14-8, 6-4) put a five game winning streak on the line as they headed to Washington to face the Georgetown Hoyas (16-4, 6-3).
Despite a five game run of victories for the Storm, it was the Hoyas who blew them out on their home court in their last loss. St. John’s would look to avoid another big loss at the hands of Georgetown.
Sir’Dom Pointer scored the first bucket of the game a minute into play. Markel Starks did Pointer one better, draining a three pointer to give the Hoyas their first lead.
Phil Greene would carry the Storm to a 5-0 run to give them a 7-3 lead after 3 minutes. St. John’s was also able to force three turnovers in the games first 3 minutes, helping them to get out ton an early lead.
Despite Greene and Pointer combining for 15 points in the fist 8 minutes, it was the Hoyas with the 17-15 advantage early on.
Otto Porter Jr. would extent the Georgetown lead as he went on a personal 7-0 run, which set Georgetown on a 12-0 shutout streak. Chris Obekpa finally got St. John’s back on the board after hitting two free throws, cutting the Hoyas lead to 24-17 with 8 to go in the first.
Georgetown would open up another big run, this time an 11-2 one, to give them a 33-21 lead with 4 minutes left in the first. Aaron Brown highlighted the streak with massive dunk off an offensive rebound.
Not much changed as the half wound down, though D’Angelo Harrison did finally get on the board after being fouled from behind the arc with one second left. At the half, the Hoyas led 39-28.
“Georgetown dominated most of the first half at both ends of the court and that was ultimately the difference in the game.” Coach Steve Lavin said of the first half.
JaKarr Sampson came out playing hard out of half time, completing a three point play off a big offensive rebound. Porter Jr. wouldn’t be phased however, and would come right back down with a three to give the Hoyas a 42-31 lead 2 minutes in.Nate Lubick was a perfect 5-5, with 10 points and 5 rebounds for Georgetown. Harrison was 0-6 with just 2 points while Phil Greene led St. John’s with 10 points.
Unfortunately only a minute later Jamal Branch would get rolled onto by Lubick, eventually having to be carried off the floor by his teammates.
St. John’s was able to get within eight of Georgetown off a Sampson bucket 8 minutes into the second. Starks extended the lead again however with a three, and the Hoyas led 51-40.
Following the Branch injury, Marco Bourgault came into the game and was quite effective. At one point he scored 12 straight points for St. John’s. His play kept it close, and with 7 minutes left St. John’s trailed 56-47.
Despite Bourgault playing a big role, no other member of the Red Storm was able to find the bottom of the basket for the next 12 minutes of the game. That bucket would be too late for St. John’s, and they would fall by a final of 68-56.
“We held them to 33 percent from the field and outrebounded them by four in the second half so we were closer to the level of play that we’ve had during our five-game winning streak.” Lavin said of the games latter half. “In the BIG EAST and on the road against a quality team like Georgetown, however, you must have a sustained effort for forty minutes.”
Lubick would finish with a game high 16 points and 9 rebounds. D’Angelo Harrison shot 0-10 from the field and appeared to injure his hand early in the second. Sampson also recored 16 points.
St. John’s will look to start a new winning streak against the UConn Huskies who will be heading to MSG February 6.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.