St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Canisius
St. John's Rolls Past Canisius
12/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2004
NEW YORK (AP) - Daryll Hill had 23 points and Lamont Hamilton added 21 to lead St. John's to a 71-51 victory over Canisius on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Holiday Festival, the Golden Griffins' sixth straight loss.
The Red Storm (5-4) will play No. 17 North Carolina State for the championship on Thursday night. The Wolfpack beat Columbia 84-74 in the first round.
St. John's led 37-30 after a first half that saw the Red Storm shoot 52 percent from the field with Canisius right behind at 50 percent.
But the Golden Griffins (1-7) managed just two field goals over the first 13:48 of the second half and the Red Storm turned the improvement on defense into a 25-point lead.
Hamilton had 11 points in a 26-8 run by St. John's to open the second half. The 6-foot-9 sophomore forward had a 3-pointer in the run, his third of the season and fifth of his career.
Canisius shot 23 percent in the second half (6-for-26), while the Red Storm finished the game at 50 percent (25-for-50).
Dexter Gray had eight rebounds for St. John's, which finished with a 40-23 advantage on the boards.
St. John's played without forward Rodney Epperson, second on the team in scoring with a 14.1 average.
