Red Storm Defeats Seton Hall, 65-62
BY DAN MILLER

Anthony Mason, lead scorer for the Red Storm, drives toward the basket in the first half of a come-from-behind victory against Big East rival Seton Hall at St. John's on March 1. Photo Dan Miller/DMD Images

On Saturday March 1, St. John's University made their largest comeback of the season to defeat Big East rival Seton Hall before an SRO "Senior Day" crowd to keep its hopes alive to make the Big East tournament. Behind a team effort and the clinch shooting of Anthony Mason Jr., St. John's (10-17, 4-11) turned what appeared to be a sure loss into an unlikely victory against a much stronger Seton Hall (17-11, 7-8).

Led by Mason's five for five in second half three-pointers and 24 points in all, Red Storm had four players in double figures. The Red Storm turned what could have been the end of their hopes to make the Big East Tournament into a faint but viable promise for a miracle finish this season.

Sophomore guard Larry Wright put in 12 points, as did freshman forward Justin Burrell, while freshman D.J. Kennedy chipped in 10 more to help St. John's win its fifth Big East game with two more conference games remaining to round out the regular schedule.

Trailing by 10, 55-45 with 4:51 to go in the game, St. John's made their move on outstanding play under pressure. It all began on Mason's three-pointer as time ran out on the shooting clock. Then treys by Wright and Mason, sandwiched around a two pointer to Seton Hall's Eugene Harvey, brought SJU within two at 59-57 with only 1:49 to go. Wright then hit a three-pointer off a pass from Mason to put SJU up 60-59, bringing the Senior Day crowd of 5,537 to its feet with hope of a victory. Burrell hit two free throws to give St. John's a three-point lead with 20 seconds remaining. Seton Hall tied the game on their own threepointer with 10 seconds to go. After the Red Storm's final time out, freshman guard Malik Boothe stole the ball and drove the length of the court to pass the ball out to Mason, who nailed the final points of the game and sealed a threepoint victory for St. John's. Immediately following Mason's shot, Seton Hall freshman Jeremy Hazel (9 points) took the inbound pass and banked in a shot from three-quarter court, apparently to tie the game yet again. Fortunately for St. John's, the shot was waved off by the refs, since a time out was called from the sidelines by the Seton Hall Pirates' coach Bobby Gonzalez, following Mason's heroic three-pointer.

Before the game, SJU Athletics Director Chris Monasch announced that Coach Norm Roberts would return next season (2008-2009) to lead the team and continue to rebuild the school's basketball program. After the game, Roberts attributed the win in large part to fan support. "The crowd really got into the game and helped us when we needed it defensively," he said.

As the Gazette went to press, St John's traveled to Notre Dame (21-5, 11-3) number 17 in the nation, for a game on Wednesday March 5 scheduled to be broadcast on Fox Sports New York, St. John's will finish the season with a home game at Madison Square Garden at noon on Saturday, March 8 against West Virginia (20-8, 9-6).

It will be an uphill battle for St. John's to make the playoffs. St John's needs two more victories in the last two remaining games of the regular season. This combined with losses by Providence, University of San Francisco (USF) and Rutgers will give the Johnnies a spot in the Big East Championship Tournament. The winner of that tournament automatically earns a trip as one of the 64 entries in the NCAA Championship Tournament.