Villanova’s 2nd Half Surge Too Much For Red Storm

The final Big East Tournament began for the St. John’s Red Storm as they took on the Villanova Wildcats on the courts of Madison Square Garden.

Sir’Dom Pointer would be available for the Storm after missing the last game due to his suspension.

Chris Obekpa began the game on the offensive side of the ball, getting the first round started with a bucket and a Red Storm lead in the games first 2 minutes.

Nova however would turn right around with an 18-4 run over the next 8 minutes. At one point St. John’s was held off the board for well over 6 minutes, until JaKarr Sampson was able to finally get a shot to fall.

Things would go from bad to worse for the Storm, as Felix Balamou went down with an apparent leg injury after blocking a shot.

While things looked down for St. John’s, Phil Greene decided to take things over. He scored 7 straight Storm points while helping to propel them within five points, trailing 20-15 with 6 to play in the first.

After trading a couple of buckets, Marc-Antoine Bourgault got things even closer as he nailed his first three pointer of the game. The timely bucked enabled St. John’s to cut the deficit to 22-21 with 3 to go.

Things would remain close as the half wound down, and after the games first 20 minutes, the teams were knotted at 24-24. The 7 points for Phil Greene were a team high while Mouphtaou Yarou led Nova with 12 points.

Pointer started the second half strong for the Storm, slamming home a dunk to give them their first lead since early after tipoff. He would nail a jumper a few minutes later, giving St. John’s a 31-28 lead.

The Wildcats would soon change the momentum as freshman Ryan Arcidiacono finally began heating up. His three pointer capped off a 10-2 run to give Nova a 38-33 advantage after 6 minutes in the second.

Neither team found much rhythm as the half continued, with St. John’s scoring just three points in 4 minutes. This enabled the Wildcats to extend their lead to 45-38 in the last 9 minutes of play.

Nova would add a couple of more points to increase their lead to 50-40. That was when Phil Greene went on yet another run, hitting a shot from downtown and then getting a steal that led to a layup. With 7 minutes remaining, St. John’s was down 50-45.

That would be as close as the Storm would get, ending their Big East life with a 66-53 loss.