Red Storm Lose Third Straight, Falls 69-63 To Detroit on Dick Vitale Night

No one ever said it was going to be easy.

Playing their first game following a 22-point loss to top-ranked Kentucky, St. John’s (4-5) dropped their third consecutive contest, losing on the road to the University of Detroit (4-6) by the final of 69-63. The loss came on a celebratory night for the Titans, as they honored former coach Dick Vitale, now an ESPN analyst, by dedicating their home court to him.

Ray McCallum (21 points) and Chase Simon (20 points) led the way for Detroit, while a double-double from Moe Harkless (19 points, 11 rebounds) and a 10-point outing from Detroit native Sir’Dominic Pointer were the lone bright spots for the Red Storm.

As St. John’s takes a brief hiatus for final exams, we leave you with some lasting impressions from the Johnnies’ road trip before the Red Storm return to the court one week from Saturday against Fordham at Madison Square Garden.

Lasting Impressions
– Call it coincidence, but St. John’s is a different team when they don their alternate black jerseys. Sadly, the curse of the black reared its ugly head once again last night. St. John’s has won just one game in the black, which came on senior night last March against USF.

– The ball handling skills of Nurideen Lindsey are really becoming a cause for concern after another ineffective night at the point. Lindsey did contribute seven rebounds, but only scored four points, and more importantly, committed six turnovers, while failing to register an assist on the night. When Lindsey fires on all cylinders, this team is a different unit, but it has yet to be seen since the Philadelphia native’s near-triple-double last month against UMBC.

– At the start of the season, Sir’Dominic Pointer was the relative mystery among the newcomers. Nine games into the season, one can now make the argument that the freshman swingman is arguably the best player on the roster, despite his reduced minutes in comparison to some of his teammates. Pointer provided yet another well-rounded effort last night, finishing with ten points, eight rebounds, and two highlight reel-worthy dunks in the opening half.

– As expected after last night’s result, the game ball will be awarded to Detroit point guard Ray McCallum. The coach’s son led all scorers with 21 points and, just as he did against Notre Dame earlier in the season, took the game over on more than one occasion. McCallum was singlehandedly responsible for putting the game away, as he went on his own personal run of eight points in a span of 72 seconds to answer every St. John’s threat down the stretch.