Postgame Notes: St. John's 64, Charleston Southern 50

Saturday, December 3

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

7:30 p.m.

St. John's University

4-1

Charleston Southern

4-2

Team	1	2	F
Charleston Southern	21	29	50
St. John's	34	30	64

Postgame Notes: St. John's 64, Charleston Southern 50

12/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Dec. 3, 2005

Box Score

Tonight was the first meeting between the two programs, as St. John's takes a 1-0 advantage in the all-time series.
After being honored before the game for his 1,000th career point (scored on Nov. 26 against Niagara), Daryll Hill reach another milestone with his 50th career double-digit scoring game. Hill has now scored in double figures in 14 consecutive games and in 38 of his last 39, dating back to the 2003-04 season. Hill turned in an all-around effort with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block in 35 minutes in his return from a knee injury.
St. John's committed a season-low 12 turnovers and posted an even 12:12 assist-to-turnover ratio for the second time this year.
The Red Storm, the BIG EAST's top rebounding team with a 47.0 rpg average, held a 45-33 advantage on the boards to outrebound its fifth straight opponent to open the season. Tonight's +12 margin on the boards matched St. John's average rebounding margin of 12.2, a mark that ranks second in the league to Villanova's +13.3.
St. John's played some of its strongest defense of the season, holding its fourth opponent in five games to below 31 percent shooting. Charleston Southern entered the Saturday night contest shooting 46.8 percent from the floor and nearly 40 percent from 3-point range.
Freshman forward Tomas Jasiulionis made his first career appearance, entering the game midway through the first half. Jasiulionis scored his first career points, grabbed his first career rebound and blocked his first career shot within his first three minutes on the floor and finished the night with two points, a rebound and a blocked shot in six minutes.
Charleston Southern's Terrell Brown connected on his first four 3-point field goal attempts and scored 12 of CSU's first 15 points. St. John's put the clamps on both Brown, who finished with 16 points, and leading scorer Trent Gates (13.2 ppg). Gates, a 56 percent shooter and a 58 percent shooter from 3-point range, connected on just 1-of-6 shots and 0-of-3 3-pointers and finished with three points.
Charleston Southern's 21 first-half points were the second-fewest by a St. John's opponent in any half in the last 13 games. Only UMES in the 2005-06 season opener scored fewer points in a half (11), and it also came in the first period.
Point guard Eugene Lawrence had four assists in the first half and a team-high five in the game. It was the sophomore guard's most efficient game, as he recorded five assists to just one turnover. Lawrence leads the team with a 4.8 assists per game average this season and has dished out at least four assists in all five of St. John's games.
Junior big man Lamont Hamilton narrowly missed a third consecutive double-double, posting 14 points and eight rebounds. Hamilton also recorded three assists for his third multi-assist effort in five games this season. Prior to the 2005-06 campaign, Hamilton had two or more assists in seven of 46 career contests.
Aaron Spears logged a career-high 21 minutes tonight and responded with seven points and four rebounds, both of which tied career-highs early in the junior college transfer's career.
Freshman forward Anthony Mason Jr. made his fifth straight start to open the season and posted a career-best with eight rebounds. Mason started St. John's off by scoring its first five points and finished the game with those five points, eight boards and a steal in 15 minutes of action.