Fast and Furious 2nd Half Lifts #20 St. John's Past St. Mary's 53-47

                             The ice bags on D'angelo Harrison's arm and Joey Delarosa's wrist were indicative of the basketball battle two very good teams, St. John's and St. Mary's waged at Carnesseca Arena last night. Both teams like to establish physical play each team likes to do so at a very different pace.

              For the first 20 minutes the visitors from northern California had the pace they wanted and slowly  built their lead thanks to a dominant first half effort on the boards (28-12) terrific half court defense and precise offensive execution that helped the Gaels make sure that Brad Waldow, their awkward looking but effective center got touches. He was equally good in pick and roll as well as post up situations as he provided the offensive spark for a 33-18 halftime advantage for St. Mary's. The wide margin plus early foul trouble for both Harrison and center Chris Obekpa spelled trouble for St. John's

              According to Harrison, coach Steve Lavin's message was simple to the point. "Coach just emphasized cutting down on Waldow he had 19 (of his game high 26 points) in the first half."

              Lavin did more than just ask his team to limit Waldow's touches, he helped his team make an adjustment that in turn helped his team accomplish just that. Sir'Dominic Pointer, the team's best defender fronted Waldow which not only limited his catches but, as Pointer explained "I'm quicker so I can get around in front and they have to lob the ball over me and Chris can look to block shots rather than be on Waldow.  It made it a lot easier for me and Chris."

              The effect was almost immediate. St. John's pulled to within 39-33 with just under 13 minutes left and finally taking the lead with 8:04 left on two Pointer free throws. He and Harrison provided much of the offensive spark. Harrison scored a team high 21 points while Pointer did a terrific job exploiting quickness mismatches  for a double double (11 points and 10 boards. St. John's defensive pressure was the key as they scored 17 points off turnovers and forced  Waldow to commit 7 without an assist. St. Mary's dominated the first half with physicality in the paint but St. John's won the second, and ultimately the game, with physical play on the perimeter; trapping St. Mary's  guards and diving for every loose ball and, as Harrison put it succinctly, "playing St. John's basketball".

              The win was St. John's 5th straight and raised their season mark to 9-1. Waldow was the only double figure scorer for St. Mary's which dropped to 6-3