St. John’s drops tight game to Villanova
BY STEPHEN LEPORE
The St. John’s men’s
basketball team, ranked
nationally for the first time
in four years, was leading
defending national champion
Villanova by five points with
4:07 to play.
Unfortunately, the Johnnies’
incredible run was not to
continue, as the Red Storm went
without a point for the next three
minutes and eventually dropped
the game to the Wildcats, 76-
71 at Finneran Pavilion in
Philadelphia.
For head coach Chris
Mullin, the lack of second
chances after missed shots
was what ultimately doomed
the Johnnies.
“I thought we got off to
a great start in the first
10-12 minutes and things
came easy,” Mullin said,
referencing how St. John’s
opened up a 14-2 and 20-7 run.
“Our giving up of offensive
rebounds hurt us more than
anything. Offensively, we
missed shots and made some
mistakes, but when you get
a stop, give up an offensive
rebound and kick out threes,
it’s demoralizing. A game
like this wasn’t going to get
up in the high numbers and
it was really going to come
down to defense.”
Villanova responded with a
15-4 run of their own. The back
and forth, streaky scoring
continued with St. John’s
taking a 39-34 advantage into
the break.
The Red Storm opened the
second half on an 11-5 run
and busted out to an 11 point
lead, but that finally woke
up the champion Wildcats,
who proceeded to score 12
unanswered points. While St.
John’s was eventually able to
reclaim the lead and go up by
five, Villanova tightened up
the ship defensively and took a
lead it would never relinquish
during the Red Storm’s late
empty spell.
Shamorie Ponds led the way
with 23 points and six assists,
but he felt unimpressed with
how St. John’s let Villanova
back in the game.
“They took the lead and I
felt like we should’ve taken
the lead right back,” he said.
“It shouldn’t have been a close
game in the first place anyway
in my opinion.”
Shamorie Ponds (l.) scored 26 points as St. John’s fell to
Villanova. Photo by Robert Cole
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