St. John's Beats LIU, 68-56, To Remain Undefeated
BY DAN MILLER

Justin Burrell hitting a jumper in the paint putting St. John's up by 8 46-38 with 8:44 to go in the contest.

The St. John's University Red Storm varsity basketball team came into its fourth game of the season against Long Island University, riding a three-game winning streak, on November 28. The team played at home court Carnesecca Arena.

The Red Storm won the game-opening jump ball and took an early lead, scoring the first five points of the game. D.J. Kennedy took an offensive rebound off a missed jumper by Larry Wright. Kennedy was fouled by Aurimas Adomaitis and hit the foul shot to begin the scoring. Kennedy then stole the ball and laid it in for a 3-0 lead. The second steal in a row by Kennedy led to a jumper by Justin Burrell, putting SJU up 5-0 two minutes and five seconds into the game.

In the first half, St. John's trailed by as many as five points and led by as many as six points twice, including at the end of the first half, when their lead hit six on two foul shots by Kennedy. Scoring leaders in the first half was Burrell, 11 points, 5 rebounds on 4-6 from the floor and a perfect 3-3 from the foul line during his 18 minutes of play. Burrell notched his third straight double-double in the first four games of this young basketball season. Kennedy played 19 minutes, scoring 9 points, making 3 buckets on 8 shots from the floor and hitting 3-4 from the foul line. Kennedy came into the game tied for 6th in the Big East in rebounding, averaging 9.7 per game, and gathered in 5 rebounds.

Paris Horne bringing the ball down court in the closing seconds of St. John's 68-56 win over LIU at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday November 28. Photos Vinny DuPr e

The Red Storm hit 7-8 free throws (87.5 percent) in the first half and went 13-16 (81.3 percent) for the game. LIU was less than accurate from the foul line, hitting 1-2 (50 percent) at the half and 10-16 (62.5 percent) for the game. The largest lead for the Red Storm was 16, when they led 68-52 with 47 ticks left on the game clock.

The Johnnies were led by Freshman Burrell's 19 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes of playing time. Kennedy added 18 points and 9 rebounds in 34 minutes of playing time. Wright added 10 points in his 19 minutes on the court including 2-4 from the three-point range. Wright leads the Big East in three-pointers, hitting more than 50 percent of his three-point attempts.

The team welcomed the return of Anthony Mason Jr., who had been sidelined previously this season due to an ankle injury. Mason's highly anticipated return to the court turned ugly when late in the game he went up for a rebound and came down on the outstretched leg of LIU player Jaytornah Wisseh who was lying underneath him on the floor. Mason lay on the floor in agony for what appeared to be forever as the pro Red Storm crowd waited for some sign of his condition. Both players had to be assisted off the court. After the game, head coach Norm Roberts reported to the press that Mason had reinjured the ankle that had kept him out until the fourth regular game of the season. Mason originally sustained a high ankle injury on November 3 in a pre-season scrimmage a few days before SJU's 95-66 exhibition win over Molloy on November 7.

The Long Island University Blackbirds were led in the game by Wisseh, who scored five of his team's game-high 18 points in the first half. Wisseh added 5 rebounds to his total in 40 minutes of play. Kellen Allen, a 6-foot, 7-inch senior from Texas, scored 13 points on 5-10 from the floor and 3-5 from the foul line in 30 minutes of play. Eugene Kotorobai, a 6-foot, 5-inch forward from Ontario, scored 10 points on 3-11 from the floor, 2-2 from the foul line and 2-9 from 3-point range. He added 6 rebounds.

In attendance at the game was Assemblymember Rory Lanceman, who hosted a pre-game dinner on the St. John's campus for his supporters. They cheered for hometown St. John's from Section 10.

With this win, St. John's is now riding a four-game season winning streak. This marks the first 4-0 start under Roberts and the first since the 2002-03 season.

The Red Storm basketball team will host Niagara at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday afternoon, December 15 at 4 p.m. For ticket information, visit www.redstormsports.com.

St. John's basketball fans are invited to a special symposium, "St. John's 100 Years of Basketball", in Carnesecca Arena's Little Theater on the Queens campus at noon, prior to the game. Phil Pepe will moderate a distinguished panel that will include Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca, AP sportswriter and SJU grad Jim O'Connell and former players Frank Alagia (1972-76), Carmine Calzonetti (1966-69), Mel Davis (1970-72), Gerry Houston (1962-65), George Johnson (1974-78), Gerry Lawrence (1953-56), Dick McGuire (1943-49), Bill Shea (1944-45), Tarik Turner (1994-98) and other special guests. Topics will include "The Early Days", "Classic Times" and "Modern Era".

While this special event is free to the public, reservations must be made prior to December 12. Contact Carolyn Young at 718-990-7906 or e-mail youngcl@ stjohns.edu.