St. John's Survives Against St. Mary's 77-70

              For a bit over 30 minutes, St. Mary's College gave St. John's future opponents an idea of how best to attack them. They moved the ball smartly against the Red Storm's zone and used the three shot as an equalizer against their size inside. Despite strong games from the Red Storm's two best inside players, Moe Harkless and God'sgift Achiuwa a Devin Spencer jumper gave St. Mary's it's largest lead at 56-48 with a shade over 9 minutes to go.

              St. John's found its footing from that point as Achiuwa  Harkless and Nurideen Lindsay sparked the offense on a 29-16 run that decided the game, But while their offense was essential equally if not more important was the defensive effort of Sir'Dominic Pointer, who provided the energy to lift what had been a listless Red Storm defense to that point. It was fitting that his steal and slam gave St..John's its largest lead at 71-60 and provided an exclamation point to a 77-70 win.

              Offensively, St. John's did well in the areas they'd be expected to playing against a team that could not match their size and strength. They out rebounded St. Mary's by a 48-14 and had decisive margins in second chance and fast break points.

              But the Red Storm hurt themselves in areas that traditionally hurt young teams. They shot just 1-13 from three point distance (compared to 13-34 for the Seahawks) and missed 20 of 42 free throws.

              In spite of those struggles on offense it's the defensive limitations that might take longer for a young team like St. John's  to solve.  Even as they got torched from three point distance they did not switch from their zone to man to man defense, perhaps in part because with essentially an eight man rotation foul and fatigue concerns prevent them from doing so.

              Monday against William & Mary the season tips off for real and despite some good work down the stretch the young guys still have lots of work to do.

              Harkless and Achiuwa each had double doubles with Harkless leading 4 double figure scorers for the Red Storm with 20 points. Devin Spencer scored a game high 25 for St. Mary's