St. John's University Athletics
St. Johns Falls to Connecticut, 82-80, in Overtime
1/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Red Storm freshman guard Omar Cook (Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King) hit the front end of a one-and-one with 14 seconds remaining in regulation to give St. Johns a 75-72, but Butlers three sent it into overtime. In the extra frame, the Huskies (12-2, 1-1) broke an 80-all tie when Souleymane Wane hit two of four free throws with 1:38 remaining. St. Johns had three chances in the last 26 seconds, but freshman guard Willie Shaw (Bronx, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) missed a three and sophomore guard Alpha Bangura (Lanham, Md./Monmouth/Roosevelt) and junior forward Anthony Glover (Bronx, N.Y/Rice) each missed shots that would have given the team a lead or tied the game.
Im very proud of my team, St. Johns Head Coach Mike Jarvis said. They showed a lot of character for young guys and almost pulled it out. It would have been a great, great victory for us at this stage in the season, but I guess we have some more work to do. But were getting there.
In the first half, the game was tied at 6-all when St. Johns went on a 13-1 run over a 3:47 span, with five points from Shaw and the Red Storm hitting five free throws, to take a 19-7 lead. SJU took its biggest lead, 31-18, on a tip-in by freshman forward Kyle Cuffe (Bronx, N.Y./Rice) with 5:55 to play in the half. A late rally by the Huskies cut the margin to nine points, 40-31, at the break. The Red Storm connected on 41.4 percent of their first half shots (12-of-29), limited UConn to 34 percent shooting and scored 14 points off of eight Huskie turnovers.
In the second half, St. Johns maintained its lead and when UConn pulled to within five points, 44-39, the Red Storm responded with a Glover three-point play, taking a 47-39 lead at the 16:02 mark. After a three-pointer by Shaw gave SJU a 52-46 lead, the Huskies scored 14 consecutive points and took a 60-52 lead with 8:53 to play.
The young St. Johns team, however, clawed back, using an 18-10 run over a 7:19 span to tie the game at 70-apiece on one of Shaws career-high six three-pointers. After Connecticut freshman Caron Butler missed a three, Cuffe grabbed the rebound and Cook found Glover for one of his 15 assists, giving St. Johns a 72-70 lead with 1:32 to play. The Huskies missed a pair of shots with nearly a minute left and Cook found Glover in the paint and, after drawing three defenders to him, dished it to Cuffe for a dunk, giving SJU a 74-70 lead with 32 seconds left.
A Butler dunk cut the lead to two points, 74-72, and Cook missed a free throw with 14 seconds left, but grabbed his rebound and was fouled. He hit the first and missed the second, setting up Butlers three pointer which sent the game into overtime.
When two good basketball teams go at each other like we did today, Jarvis said, it is a game of runs. We almost made the last run to win the game. You always want to be part of the last positive run.
St. John's connected on 43.8 percent of its field goals in the game (28-64), including 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the second half. They hit 41.2 percent of their three-pointers (7-of-17) and connected on 73.9 percent of their free attempts (17-of-23). They were outrebounded 40-34 by the Huskies. Shaw led St. Johns (7-5, 1-1) with 25 points, while Bangura added 18 points, Glover added 11 and six rebounds and Cook finished the night with 11 points, six rebounds and 15 assists, his fifth game this season with at least 10 assists.
"It was a hell of a game," Jarvis said. "I hope everyone who got a chance to watch it in person or TV enjoyed it. I wish they knew how hard all of the kids that played in the game had to work to put on a performance like tonight." St. Johns returns to action on Wednesday, January 10, hosting Boston College in a BIG EAST game at Madison Square Garden scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
