Mamu's Career Day Lifts Seton Hall Past St. John's in Big East Opener

 

     St. John’s simply could not handle Sandro Mamukalishvili, who had a career night scoring 32 points and showing off the full range of skills and leadership that make him perhaps the Big East Conference’s best NBA prospect. He led Seton Hall to a convincing 77-68 home win over St. John’s in the Big East opener for both clubs.

    Mamukalishvili and the Pirates used strong starts in each half to give themselves an early advantage. In the game’s opening moments Mamu used his scoring and passing ability to give the Pirates a quick 19-11 start before St. John’s could find their footing on the road. When they finally got things going it was Julian Champagnie, who has been the best player, that helped kick start the offense, scoring primarily inside, and finding openings in Seton Hall’s match-up zone defense. Beyond Champagnie, who finished with 24 points on 10-19 shooting, St. John’s did not have many answers offensively. They shot just 4-21 from beyond the arc and made 6 free throws in just 10 tries. Seton Hall was not much better from beyond the arc, making just 5 in 17 tries, but their success getting to the line and making free throws (20-28) was vital. They also could not rely on their pressure defense to generate transition offense as Mamukalishvili provided a pair of needed and steady hands which aided the Seton Hall navigating the press. St. John’s did force 15 turnovers but generated just 13 points from them.

    Despite their struggles, St. John’s trailed by just 35-30 at the half but another fast start by Seton Hall opened the margin. A quick 6-0 spurt by the Pirates gave them their largest margin of 11 less than 2 minutes into the second half. From there the Pirates found answers primarily thanks to Mamu who assisted on a Takai Molson three pointer that pushed the lead to 11 for a second time at 51-40 with 14:25 left. St. John’s rallied to within 3 at 54-51 with a nice spurt that culminated on a Rasheem Dunn layup. Mamukalishvili then converted a 3-point play, and Seton Hall got just enough from Molson and Mamu to hold off St. John’s down the stretch. In addition to his 32 points Mamu added 9 rebounds and 3 assists. Molson, a transfer from Canisius added 14 off the bench. For St. John’s Rasheem Dunn marked his return to the lineup by scoring 10 points while Greg Williams added 12 and Vince Cole 11. They play at Georgetown on Sunday at 7:30 pm.