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A Hardy Day’s Night

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It’s becoming standard practice for St. John’s lately. If the game is still up in the air inside the final minute, turn to Dwight Hardy. Fortunately, the Bronx native delivered once again with another unflappable performance resulting in a Red Storm win.

Hardy’s 12 points, including three free throws in the final 16.8 seconds, provided just enough cushion for the Johnnies (6-3) to defeat Davidson (5-4) 62-57 in the Holiday Festival semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Next up for St. John’s will be undefeated Northwestern, (8-0) who dominated St. Francis in a matchup that the Terriers started strong in before Northwestern asserted themselves on the way to a 92-61 victory that continued the Wildcats’ best start in 17 years.

While Hardy was the go-to guy in the clutch, there were other players instrumental in the win for St. John’s, which snapped a demoralizing two-game skid caused by losses to St. Bonaventure and Fordham. D.J. Kennedy turned back the clock with a vintage performance from “The Hitman,” scoring 17 while falling just one rebound short of a double-double. “It took us a while to get over the Fordham loss,” stated Kennedy. “I took it personally to step up and get a win.” Joining Kennedy in the effort were Justin Brownlee, who added another double-figure game to his ledger (11 points) and Paris Horne, who made up for a six-point outing with an emphatic blocked shot to end the first half, one where Davidson led 27-24.

Brendan McKillop paced Davidson with 17 points and Jake Cohen added 14 of his own for the Wildcats, who were done in by turning the ball over 19 times. However, St. John’s committed an unusually high amount of errors themselves with 15 turnovers. Davidson stayed within reach throughout despite the numerous miscues, and were done in with 4.4 seconds remaining when McKillop missed a three that would have tied the game at 60. Hardy picked up the rebound and was immediately fouled, and his two foul shots that followed iced it for the Johnnies.

The Holiday Festival resumes tonight with Davidson and St. Francis taking the court in the consolation game that will precede the championship matchup in which St. John’s looks to not only claim its first championship in their host tournament since 2005, but also to hand Northwestern their first loss of the season.

Fumble in the Bronx

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Fordham fans storm the court at Rose Hill Gym after Rams come back from down 21 to upset St. John's 84-81. (Jaden Daly)

Four days removed from a demoralizing home loss against St. Bonaventure, St. John’s got an opportunity to regroup against another Atlantic 10 school, one just a stone’s throw away from the Queens campus in Fordham University. For about 25 minutes, it looked like the Johnnies had put the deflation at Carnesecca Arena behind them. That is, until the demons of Red Storm past trekked over the Whitestone Bridge and made their way into Rose Hill Gym.

After leading by as many as 21 points early in the final stanza, St. John’s (5-3) was done in by an 0-for-11 second-half effort from three-point range and missed layups inside as Fordham (5-4) used not one, but two 16-0 runs over a ten-minute span in the final period to upset the Red Storm 84-81 for the school’s first win against their Queens neighbors in over a decade.

“To have a night like this is special for the university,” said Fordham coach Tom Pecora, who was among the names initially considered for the St. John’s job that ultimately went to Steve Lavin. “You can see how tough a place this is to play,” remarked the coach of the Rams’ home venue, which sold out weeks before the game. Fordham was led by senior guard Brenton Butler, who valiantly scored 22 points despite nine turnovers and four first-half fouls, and sophomore Chris Gaston, who posted yet another double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. The mood in the opposing locker room was a stark contrast from the jubilation exhibited by the victors.

“I thought the big storyline in the second half was Fordham’s aggressiveness,” said Lavin of the Rams’ 51-point effort in the final stanza. “Down the stretch, I felt we became too perimeter-oriented,” said Lavin, who felt his players may have been overzealous in their attempts to defeat Fordham’s zone defense. Despite yet another heartbreaking loss, the Johnnies had another positive night from Dwight Hardy, who led all scorers with 30 points (19 in the first half) in his Bronx homecoming after starring at John F. Kennedy High School prior to joining the Johnnies as a junior college transfer. “You could see some breakthroughs,” was what Lavin had to say about the recent productivity from his shooting guard. D.J. Kennedy chipped in with 16, and it seemed that the senior leader was trying to win the game singlehandedly in the final minutes. “He did some really good things,” said Lavin of the player he calls the hub of the wheel. “Then, in a couple of critical possessions, he launched some shots that were ill-advised.” Paris Horne added 14, and also added his name to the history books by becoming the Johnnies’ 46th member of the 1,000 point club.

Fordham shot 52% (12-for-23) from beyond the arc for the night, with each triple being drained by the trio of Butler, (five 3-pointers) Alberto Estwick, (four) and freshman Branden Frazier. (three)  The Rams also became the third team in the last four seasons to defeat St. John’s with the aid of a 16-0 run in the second half, joining DePaul (2007-08) and West Virginia (2009-10) in that category. The Johnnies had led 60-39 with 15:35 remaining in regulation before Fordham capped off their comeback.

St. John’s takes a hiatus from its schedule for finals week before once again hosting the Holiday Festival on Monday night against Davidson, with either the consolation or championship game the following night against St. Francis or Northwestern.