Slater Free Throws Secures Win Over Red Storm
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Shara Talia Taylor
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
The St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball team gave a stellar performance but fell to the Villanova Wildcats in a 66-65 heartbreaking loss in the quarterfinals of the Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
It looked as though the 7th seed Red Storm would upset the 2nd seeded Wildcats who trailed the majority of the game. St. John’s made shots and challenged Villanova defensively from the start but fell behind in the last seconds of the game.
“It’s a really emotional locker room there,” said St. John’s Head Coach Mike Anderson. “And you can understand why. I thought our guys left their heart, guts and everything on the floor. And just came up a little short.”
St. John’s last win in the Big East Tournament over Villanova was in the 2000 quarterfinals. It looked like the Red Storm would do it again. St. Johns players played swifter and more assertive as they started the game. Defensively, they suffocated the Wild Cats in the first half.
The Red Storm were ahead 30-23 by halftime and had made 12 of 29 field goals and had seven steals. Villanova made seven of 30 field goals and had 2 steals by halftime. However, Villanova out-rebounded St. John’s with 22 total rebounds against the Red Storm’s 19 total rebounds before the second half of the game.
“So we knew coming into this game it was going to be this kind of game,” said Villanova’s Head Coach Jay Wright about the match they anticipated after seeing the Red Storm win Wednesday night. “And they were really good. And we just toughed it out.”
St. John’s was ahead to start the second half. They were ahead by 17 points, their biggest lead, with 15:38 minutes remaining in the game. However, Villanova bounced back and tied the game at 50 points with 8:11 minutes remained in the second half.
“So we knew coming into this game it was going to be this kind of game,” said Villanova’s Head Coach Jay Wright about the match they anticipated after seeing the Red Storm win Wednesday night. “And they were really good. And we just toughed it out.”
St. John’s was ahead to start the second half. They were ahead by 17 points, their biggest lead, with 15:38 minutes remaining in the game. However, Villanova bounced back and tied the game at 50 points with 8:11 minutes remained in the second half.
Both teams fought back and forth. The Red Storm was ahead 65-64 when two seconds were left in the game and Villanova’s Brandon Slater was fouled. Slater delivered two successful free throws to save the Wildcats.
“We work on free throws every day in practice,” said Slater. “So when I step to the line my teammates and coaches, they were telling me, we do this every single day. They gave me that confidence and I was able to knock it down.”
St. John’s Julian Champagnie scored a game-high 23 points with nine rebounds as he just missed his fifth double-double of the season.
“The guys, we played hard today,” said Champagnie. “We came out, we executed on defense. Even on offense. It’s just hard.”
Villanova finished second in the Big East Conference with 16 wins and four losses. St. John’s had eight conference wins and 11 conference losses.
“We work on free throws every day in practice,” said Slater. “So when I step to the line my teammates and coaches, they were telling me, we do this every single day. They gave me that confidence and I was able to knock it down.”
St. John’s Julian Champagnie scored a game-high 23 points with nine rebounds as he just missed his fifth double-double of the season.
“The guys, we played hard today,” said Champagnie. “We came out, we executed on defense. Even on offense. It’s just hard.”
Villanova finished second in the Big East Conference with 16 wins and four losses. St. John’s had eight conference wins and 11 conference losses.
Villanova will take on the Huskies from Connecticut in the semi-finals tonight at 9pm.
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