St. John’s 75 Syracuse 70 SYRACUSE – If the slightest of doubts remained about the resiliency, the tenacity, and the heart of this St. John’s team, they were vanquished last night in the Carrier Dome.
Coming off an emotionally draining overtime loss to Duke last Sunday and facing a showdown for Big East Conference supremacy against Connecticut on Saturday, St. John’s could easily have come up empty last night against Syracuse – especially when the sizzling Orangemen jumped out to a 15-point lead.
But if you know one thing about the Red Storm, know this: They will not lay down anywhere for anyone at any time.
”Tenacious isn’t the word,” Syracuse guard Allen Griffin of Brooklyn said of the Red Storm. ”I would call them beasts. When you have a crazy beast in front of you, you have to do something and we did nothing. They came to war for 40 minutes. We came to war for 20-30 minutes. And in the final 10 minutes, they just took it to a whole other level.”
St. John’s did just that and left the dome silent with a 75-70 win. As has been the case all season, there was another star for the Red Storm. Lavor Postell came off the bench to score 18 points and grab nine rebounds – five on the offensive boards.
”Lavor might have taken the heart out of them with some of the plays he made on offense,” said St. John’s coach Mike Jarvis. ”He was a monster.”
And Ron Artest was a magician. He turned in another dazzling all-around performance, despite suffering a deep thigh bruise just 2:15 into the game. Artest finished with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots. He also held Syracuse’s 6-9 center Etan Thomas to just eight shots.
Bootsy Thornton, who was coming off a career-high 40 against Duke, led the way again with 21 points. But more impressive was the 6-4 guard’s work on the boards where he pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds, six on the offensive glass.
That’s how St. John’s (17-4 overall, 8-1 in the Big East) got back into this game. Syracuse (14-6, 5-5) jumped out to a 25-10 lead by hitting its first five 3-pointers.
”When I looked out at my kids, they didn’t seemed rattled,” Jarvis said.
They weren’t, and one must wonder if this team knows the meaning of fear. They were down 17 at Miami earlier this season and stormed back to make it a game before losing 84-79. They looked last night’s 15-point deficit in the face and were steely eyed.
”It’s called wanting to win,” Thornton said matter-of-factly.
The Orangemen shot 65.4 percent in the first half but by grabbing five more offensive rebounds (8-3) and getting off seven more shots (33-26), St. John’s was able to claw its way back.
”You can’t place a value next to that,” Jarvis said. ”That’s all hustle. They’re attitude points. It’s all about who you are. You have to really want it badly and they really want it badly.”
St. John’s took it in the second half. With Syracuse leading 49-43, the Red Storm went on a 12-2 run to take a 55-51 lead. Four different players scored during the run.
Thornton opened it by hitting a 3 from the corner. Postell threw down a monster jam off a nifty Reggie Jessie feed. Erick Barkley hit a foul-line jumper. Thornton converted an offensive rebound. And Artest drained a 3 from the wing.
Syracuse rallied with 9-2 run to take a 60-57 lead, but there was no offensive flow. Jason Hart, who had 17 in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting, was shut down by Barkley and Thornton in the second half. He had seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Thornton answered a Hart 3 with one of this own to tie the game at 60. Artest then asserted himself. He scored seven of St. John’s next 13 points. Four of his points came on left-handed shots. Artest is righty but he makes this stuff up as he goes along.
”He’s one of the best players in the country,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.
In the midst of Artest’s run, Hart scored on a layup with 4:15 remaining to make it a 71-70 game. It was the last points Syracuse would score. The St. John’s beast was in full force.
With 23 seconds left and St. John’s up 73-70, Griffin went up for a 3 but was rejected from behind by Thornton. Hart then got the long rebound and was wide open for a 3 but he missed. Ryan Blackwell then had a chance but his off-balance wing jumper clanged off the rim and Postell skied for his ninth board.
”I know those guys,” said Griffin, who starred at Robeson High. ”If you don’t put them away, they’re going to make you pay. And it isn’t easy to put them away.”