St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Notes: St. John's 78, UMBC 57
12/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
?? Tonight's meeting was the first ever between the two programs, as the Red Storm cruised to a 78-57 victory at Carnesecca Arena.
?? St. John's used a 17-0 run to overcome an early 7-3 deficit to take a 20-7 lead at the 13:15 mark of the first half. The Retrievers fought back to within five points on three occasions throughout the period, but the Red Storm pushed its advantage to 36-27 at the intermission and into double digits at the start of the second.
?? Anthony Mason Jr. scored 14 of his career-high 17 points in the first half and finished with double-digit points for the fifth straight game. The sophomore added seven rebounds, a career-high six assists and three 3-pointers in his best overall effort of the season. Over his last five games, Mason Jr. is averaging 13.8 points on 50 percent shooting.
?? Senior big man Lamont Hamilton scored a season-high 19 points and tied a career-best with eight free throws. Hamilton knocked down 5-of-7 field goals and 8-of-11 free throws and blocked a shot for the seventh straight game ??? the longest streak of his career.
?? Junior Avery Patterson was in double figures by halftime and finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three 3-pointers. Patterson went 3-for-3 at the free throw line to stay perfect from the charity stripe (14-of-14) on the young season.
?? Collectively, the Red Storm hit on 76.9 percent (20-of-26) of its free throws for the team's fourth game with better than 70 percent shooting from the charity stripe.
?? Junior point guard and team captain Eugene Lawrence filled up the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Lawrence set a new season-high with eight helpers, turned the ball over just three times and recorded four steals for the second straight contest. The sophomore had four steals, while the other 24 players who saw action for both teams combined for just two.
?? Sophomore Tomas Jasiulionis played a career-high 22 minutes in his second straight start and was a presence inside for the Red Storm. Jasiulionis scored two points, grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots. Over his last three games, the 6-foot-11 center is averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 blocks in 19.7 minutes per contest.
?? The team did not commit a turnover in the first 15:36 of the contest and finished the game with a season-best 16-to-9 assist-to-turnover ratio.
