St. John’s Tops BC 73–71

Last Wednesday the St. John’s Red Storm basketball team might well have looked at their season’s fate in the hands of Troy Bell, the talented guard of Boston College. Bell had the ball with 17.8 ticks on the game clock, which read SJU 73, Boston College 71. But Bell, who scored 23 points with a variety of shots, didn’t take the last one.

Instead, he passed the ball off to Kenny Harley, who had it stripped by the St. John’s defense. The horn sounded at Madison Square Garden to the delight of the Johnnies’ fans who made up most of the 13,392 basketball lovers in attendence.

St. John’s won a tough, close game and beat No. 24-ranked Boston College, who came into the contest as one of the surprise teams of the nation. BC was 11–0 and 2–0, and the Storm had to win this game in order to get back on track as the Big East schedule heats up.

The Storm did win, playing one of its best games of the season. Freshman Omar Cook’s trey with 34.2 seconds left broke a 69–69 tie and put SJU up by three points. Cook was later fouled and made one of two foul shots, giving BC one last chance to win the game. But the Red Storm came away with the sorely needed victory when BC’s last second attempt failed.

St. John’s (8–6, 2–1) had five players in double figures. Coach Mike Jarvis liked what he saw. "Tonight was a pretty good indication of the kind of balance that we’re developing," Jarvis said. St. John’s also out-rebounded BC 43–32 with a strong second-half effort. Different players chipped in with rebounds which translated into an overall team effort. "We finally did out-rebound somebody," Jarvis said. "I know BC is a small team, but we’re capable of rebounding against anybody." Freshman Willie Shaw, playing at small forward, led SJU with 10 boards to go along with his 10 points for the night.

But is was Omar Cook who made the difference in this game. He scored 19 points and dished out 13 assists for the Red Storm. The former Christ The King H.S. star guard is playing with a polish that most freshman players don’t possess. Cook has a great sense of the court and can find an open man in an instant. Now his teammates are getting used to some of his laser-like passes, and the offense is starting to get in gear.

The Storm shot only 13 for 23 from the charity stripe in the second half and that almost did the team in. But the Johnnies out-lasted the Eagles in the final moments with the game on the line.

If this was a horse race, both teams were neck and neck heading to the finish line. At the half, SJU had a slim 35–33 lead. The largest lead of the game was just five points. The game was tied seven times in the second half alone. St. John’s let a five-point lead slip away midway through the second half and Boston College showed why it was undefeated after its first 11 games. The Eagles played unselfishly, and, of course, there was Troy Bell, last year’s Big East Rookie of the year.

BC had a 65–61 lead with 5:22 left in the game and St. John’s had to make its move soon, or this game could be lights out. Reggie Jessie, the senior forward who had recently lost his starting position, came off the bench to score 10 points, eight of them in the second half. Jessie’s layup broke a 67–67 tie. But the Eagles’ Ryan Sidney calmly hit two free throws to tie the game once again. Then Cook came up huge. He launched a long shot above the top of the key that drained the bottom of the net to give SJU a 72–69 advantage, just enough to win the game.

Sophomore guard Alpha Bangura appears to have found his game. He scored 14 points for the Storm and provided an inside threat. Bangura knows how to score points and is making adjustments that are paying off for the team. Bangura said he’s feeling more confident in his role in the offense. "I’ve just continued to work hard and things have just been working out well," said Bangura.