Struggling Red Storm Drops 5th Straight 79-72

The murmurs from observers and St. John's fans wondering whether or not their team was in trouble no doubt got a bit louder tonight as St. John's lost to MEAC Conference foe Delaware State 79-72 at Carnesecca Arena. The win was the hornets' first over a D-1 team this season and with it they broke a 20 game losing skid against D-1 non conference teams.

              St. John's fans had hoped the team would leave behind the struggles of a winless four game road trip which saw them struggle with defense, shot selection and rebounding. Instead each of those things showed themselves in what was a loss that looked even worse to the eyeballs then it did on paper.

              Delaware State played a half-court game that moved quickly. Third year coach Keith Walker's squad had the patience and poise to seemingly make multiple passes on every possession and seemed to get whatever shot they wanted. Sophomore guard Devin Morgan led three double figure scorers with  26 points for the Hornets their offense produced 53% from 3 point distance and 58% from the floor overall..

              And for St. John's the shooting  numbers were dismal,38% overall and 32 from 3, and while the red storm did out rebound the Hornets, the contrast in the way the teams played can't be grasped simply by looking at numbers. One team's passing was crisp, the other's was not, one team's defensive rotations were solid while the other gave away at least two baskets on plays where two defenders rotated to block a shot while none "stayed home" for the rebound. And perhaps most significantly one team knew how to play down the stretch and the other did not.

              Delaware State's largest margin of 15 points came on a triple by Morgan midway through the second half. From there St. John's rallied primarily behind Bashir Ahmed who finished with a game high 19 points. They got to within 69-63 on a Shamorie Ponds steal and layup with 3:16 left. There was, unlike much of the game, life in the building and life in the legs of St. John's players. From there both teams traded turnovers and Marcus Lovett forced a tough shot that missed. State finally put the game away when Morgan and DeAndre Hayward each converted steals into layups and put the game away for good. Only time will tell whether St. John's has a  team learning to compete at this level or one with deeper problems. For now though they have their work cut out for themselves simply trying to find their footing and maybe figure out what they do best.