On a day
when St. John’s honored a cornerstone of its storied basketball past, the
current edition of the basketball team took a half to get in gear. With star
guard Marcus Lovett missing because of a sprained knee, the aggressive defense
and quick ball moving offense that have been part of their best basketball were
both decidedly absent. Sacred Heart took advantage of offensive rebounds, kicking
the ball out for threes and a defense that, in the words of their coach Chris
Mullin gave up “15 or 16 middle drives and as athletic as we are that should
not happen to us” Mullin summed up the first half effort succinctly when he
said, “We were just participating and not competing”. As the first 20 minutes drew to a close St.
John’s, despite those struggles had briefly pushed their margin to 8 points. But
they saw that margin evaporate when they gave up a pair of triples to Kinnon Larose.
Sacred Heart then tied the game at 34 on a jumper by De’Von Barnett before
Marvin Clark converted of offensive rebound for a basket to give St. John’s a
scant 2-point margin at the intermission.
No one connected
with St. John’s offered the week layoff or Lovett’s absence as excuses for the
slow start, and perhaps that’s one reason why they were able to shake it off quickly.
As they came out to start the second half their energy was completely different. An 10-2 run by St. John’s moved the
lead to 46-36 before the first media time out and from there St. John’s
athleticism and energy controlled the game. Shamorie Ponds finished with a game
high 22 points while Clark and Justin Simon added 14 apiece. No one had a
better game though, then Tariq Owens who finished with 12 points 11 rebounds
and 4 blocks. Those numbers, as good as they are obscure the fact that his
individual game mirrored the tale of two halves he and his teammates had just
experienced. His coach pointed out, “In the first half there were probably two
or 3 plays for Tariq where they threw him the ball and he fell or it hit him in
the nose, Mullin said. “But then in the second half he catches a lob with his left
hand above the top of the box.”
St. John’s ended up routing the Pioneers 54-21 over the latter
20 minutes and ended up scoring the kind of decisive win they need as they head
west for two tough tests against Grand Canyon and Arizona State. Mullin warned
his team that both those teams are high powered and they must bring energy to
start the game or “we’ll be down by 25.” On the road and perhaps without Lovett
they face a tough task indeed.
St.John’s Unveils Lapchick Statue
Prior to today’s game
St. John’s unveiled a statue to honor the legacy of coach Joe Lapchick. Coach
Lapchick was first a star player for teams such as the Original Celtics and the
Cleveland Rosenblums. At 6’5” he was widely considered to be basketball’s best center
in the 1920’s and 30’s and was known as a slick passer and clever player. In 1936
he began the first of two coaching stints at St. John’s. In 20 seasons combined
he compiled a 334-140 record and 4 N.I.T. Titles. Between his stints at St.
John’s he coached the NBA’s New York Knicks. From 1947-’56 he coached the Knicks to a 326-247
record and 3 trips to the NBA finals. He was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of
fame in 1966 and is perhaps best remembered for his actions on behalf of social
justice as both a player and coach. As a player his Celtics teams would barnstorm
against the “black fives” of that era such as the New York Rens . The Rens featured hall of famers Pop Gates, John
“Boy Wonder” Isaacs and Charles “Tarzan” Cooper. Lapchick would begin each game
by embracing fellow center Cooper just prior to the opening tap. As coach of
the Knicks he signed Harlem Globetrotters star Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton to a Knicks’
contract. In 1950 Clifton, with Lapchick coaching became just the second African
American player to appear in an NBA game just 4 days after Earl Lloyd had
broken the league’s color line as a member of the Washington Capitals.
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