St. John's University Athletics
Glover Leads Red Storm Past Villanova, 82-70
1/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
We continue to move in a very positive, very upward direction, St. Johns Head Coach Mike Jarvis said. I thought the guys basically did what they had to do to win. I thought it was a very, very nice team effort. I like the way that all of our guys made them work for everything, and that makes a big difference. They are a very talented offensive team, so I am very pleased with our defensive efforts today.
In the first half, freshman guard Willie Shaw (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) hit a three-pointer from the right corner, breaking an 8-all tie at the 16:10 mark, but Villanova used a 13-1 run, keyed by five points from Derrick Snowden, and took a 21-12 lead at the 9:39 mark. The Red Storm struggled from the field, going 6:56 without a field goal, but caught on fire. They outscored the Wildcats 27-13, with Glover scoring nine and junior forward Donald Emanuel (Houston, Texas/Jones) adding four points, over the final 9:39 of the half and took a 34-29 lead.
After Villanova cut the margin to 34-31, the Red Storm scored nine straight points in the midst of a 14-4 run run and the cushion moved to 13 points, 48-35, on a three-pointer by freshman guard Omar Cook (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) with 15:55 to play. During the opening run of the second half, SJU received three points apiece from freshman center Mohamed Diakite (Rockville, Md./Montrose Christian), sophomore guard Alpha Bangura (Lanham, Md./Monmouth) and Shaw.
We put about six different things on the board at halftime that we had to do better in the second half, and we did all of them, Jarvis said. Id say the second half, probably in terms of carrying out the game plan, is probably the best that its been.
Glover connected on 7-of-10 shots from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to lead the Red Storm with 20 points, while adding seven rebounds and four assists. Shaw finished with 18 points, including an 8-of-10 performance from the line, and three rebounds, while Cook added 14 points and five assists. Emanuel added eight points off the bench, while freshman forward Kyle Cuffe (Bronx, N.Y./Rice) scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.
St. Johns connected on 45.3 percent of its field goals (24-of-53), only 23.1 percent of its three-pointers (3-of-13) and 73.8 percent of its free throws (31-of-42). They were beaten on the boards (34-31) for the 10th time this season, but forced 23 Villanova turnovers. Led by junior guard Sharif Fordham (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Milford Academy), who had four steals, the team also registered a season-high 14 thefts.
St. Johns returns to action on Monday, January 22, hosting Miami at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is slated for 7p.m. The game can be heard on WEVD 1050-AM and seen on ESPN.
