St. John's Red Storm eliminated from Big East Tournament by Providence, 79

Diposkan oleh silent aja 5:53 AM Post a Comment

Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News

St. John spent this season mounting an implausible comeback to become a contender for an NCAA Tournament bid. But in its biggest game of the season, St. John's came up short.

The Red Storm rallied from a 17-point deficit against Providence in the final 6:24 and had a chance to go ahead, but JaKarr Sampson's layup with 40 seconds left was short and the Friars pulled out a 79-74 Big East quarterfinal victory at the Garden.

St. John's is now unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament while Providence is almost assured of getting in. The Storm will at least receive an NIT invitation.

D'Angelo Harrison, Orlando Sanchez and Sampson led the fifth-seeded Johnnies (20-12) back after LaDontae Henton's layup put the Friars (21-11) up 63-46. When Harrison made a pair of free throws, the Storm was within 69-68 with 1:15 to go.

Sanchez blocked a shot on the defensive end and it turned into a Johnnies run-out. Sampson and Rysheed Jordan passed it back and forth a couple times each and Sampson ended up with the ball under the goal. But the shot hit the rim and PC tied up the rebound and got possession.

A three-point try by Harrison that would have tied the game was blocked by Josh Fortune on the ensuing possession. The Storm had to foul from that point on.

Harrison scored 21, Jordan 17 and Sampson 15 for St. John's, which gave up 17 second-chance points and missed 13 free throws. Fortune had 24 points and Henton 16 points for PC, which meets Seton Hall in the semifinals Friday.

Providence star Bryce Cotton had an awful first half but St. John's didn't take advantage and trailed 36-33 at the break. The Storm wasn't doing itself any favors in those first 20 minutes, missing seven free throws and allowing the Friars to score seven points off offensive rebounds.

Sampson had nine points as the Storm went up 10-7 about six minutes into the game, but he didn't score again in the half. Jordan reeled of 12 of his 14 first-half points in a 19-11 run that game the Johnnies their biggest lead at 29-22 with 5:36 in the half.