St. John's University Athletics
Postgame Quotes: St. John??' 76, Columbia 70
12/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. John???s Head Coach Norm Roberts
On tonight???s game:
???I thought it was a very good game. I give Joe Jones a lot of credit. He has done a good job over at Columbia. They have a very good team with talented shooters and they never say die. I believe we did some great things tonight. We stayed tough. On a night when you???re not shooting too well, you have to defend and we did a very good job of that. We really got the ball inside to Lamont [Hamilton] and he did a terrific job.???
On Lamont Hamilton:
???I know that he is capable of a break out game like this. He really played well. He moved his feet better, posted better, and even when he was fronted, he continued to work and when he does that he is very tough to guard. He had a great night.???
On the team???s six-game winning streak and the upcoming Holiday Festival:
???It???s always important to win every game, but what we???re doing with our guys is breaking things down into small segments. We???ve told them that before you can have a good season, you have to have a good day. Then if you have a good day, you have to have a good week. We???re now up to three really good weeks and now to have a good month you have to try and win the Holiday Festival. That???s how you have a really good season, by putting a couple of good months together. So we???re trying to take it in segments like that.???
Junior Guard Eugene Lawrence
On Lamont Hamilton:
???Before the game, I told him that in our first possession I was coming to him and to be ready. He was focused and got us off to a good start. He scored the first 10 points. So I knew I had to give him the ball.???
Sophomore Forward Anthony Mason Jr.
On Columbia???s persistence in the second half:
???We stayed together and continued to huddle up. Our press offense was good and we got the ball in. As long as we stayed focused, we had the game.???
Columbia Head Coach Joe Jones
On this year???s Columbia team compared to last year???s Holiday Festival squad:
???They are definitely a better team and they played well minus a couple of guys that played a lot. But this is a better squad from top to bottom.???
On tonight???s game:
???Our guys played very hard, but both teams came in expecting a hard game. We???ve been in this situation before. I was very proud of how they stayed toe-to-toe with St. John???s. But I think we know we are capable of playing better. It just wasn???t meant to be and we need to move on and improve on tonight.???