St. John's University Athletics
Second Half Rally Lifts DePaul Past St. Johns, 60-54
1/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2008
Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's basketball team saw a six point second half lead erased by a 16-0 DePaul run and eventually fell 60-54 to the Blue Demons in BIG EAST action on Saturday afternoon. St. John's (7-8, 1-3 BIG EAST) was led by Justin Burrell and his double-double effort of 18 points and 11 rebounds, while DePaul (7-8, 3-1 BIG EAST) was led by Dar Tucker's team best 16 points.
The Red Storm fell behind 4-0 early and did not get on the board until an Anthony Mason Jr. fast break dunk at the 15:53 mark. The Mason Jr. slam opened a 10-3 run to give St. John's a 10-7 advantage. From there both teams had plenty of chances to establish a lead, but neither could capitalize. As the Red Storm shot just 4-of-20 over the opening 12 minutes, DePaul had seven turnovers in the same time frame. At the 7:57 mark the score was just 10-8, but the teams warmed up to combine for 27 points over the remainder of the opening stanza. Eugene Lawrence dished out four assists and drained a 3-pointer as the squad improved to shoot 30.0 percent (9-of-30) in the first half of play.
St. John's opened the second half shooting 5-of-6 from the floor to take a 34-27 lead with 14:10 remaining, but DePaul then surged to an 8-0 run over a span of 1:46 to grab a slim 35-34 lead. Larry Wright drained a 3-pointer and Burrell followed with a pair of baskets as the Red Storm responded with a 7-0 run to open up a 41-35 lead and force DePaul to call a quick timeout. From there, the Blue Demons went on the 16-0 run to open up a 51-41 lead.
"We have to get to the point where we can execute. In the BIG EAST it comes down to two, three, four possessions. You have to make sure you do your best job in those possessions. We didn't, DePaul did," said head coach Norm Roberts. "We didn't take care of the basketball at key moments of the game. We made some ill-advised turnovers that turned into baskets. We had some opportunities to get down some shots and stop their run and we didn't make them. We didn't make the plays on both the offensive and defensive ends. DePaul made the plays."
Burrell's performance marked the sixth double-double of his young career. Mason Jr., meanwhile finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high tying six assists. St. John's dominated the boards once again particularly on the offensive end as the squad outrebounded the Blue Demons 16-3 on the offensive side of the glass. In all, the Red Storm grabbed 39 boards to 31 for DePaul.
St. John's next travels to Morgantown for a meeting with the West Virginia Mountaineers on Thursday, Jan. 17. The game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m. and will air live in the New York City area on the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG).
