St. John's vs Seton Hall: postgame media links

A look around the web to see what others' are saying about St. John's 71-67 defeat of Seton Hall.

Rumble in the Garden's recap:

St. John's led by just three with the ball as the clock had less than a minute remaining. Jamal Branch rose for a contested jumper and missed, as the ball went up for grabs.

But there was Chris Obekpa, seemingly out of nowhere, to tip it in and extend the lead to 67-62, saving the Red Storm's day.

Red Storm Sports: FOUR-STRAIGHT: Red Storm Rallies To Hold Off The Hall, 71-67, At The Garden

Over the last two weeks, however, bolstered by stifling mixed defenses, a renewed commitment to the boards and perhaps a little more experience under its collective belt, the young Red Storm has now authored a four-game winning streak, boosting St. John's into a tie for third place in the BIG EAST.

D'Angelo Harrison scored 24 points and freshman JaKarr Sampson added 19 as St. John's won its fourth-straight game for the first time in three seasons, 71-67 over Seton Hall on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

Harrison, who is second in the BIG EAST in scoring with a 19.6 average, scored 10 of the Red Storm's final 12 points, a burst that began with nine minutes left and helped keep the Pirates, who closed within one point with 4:21 to play, at bay.

Red Storm Sports: Postgame Quotes: St. John's 71 Seton Hall 67 - ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

The most challenging aspect for any team is to sustain the same level of execution for 40 minutes. How you respond and how you handle prosperity determines how successful you can be. Our youth differentiates us from a veteran team because we are still learning lessons on the court.

Ed. note: the ups and downs will smooth out as the team continues to develop. Is the upswing permanent? We'll find out.

AP Recap via CBS Sports: NCAA College Basketball Recap - Seton Hall Pirates at St. John's Red Storm - Jan 27, 2013

Seton Hall used an 11-2 run to get within 60-59, but Harrison took over, hitting two jumpers and two free throws in the final 2:24.

"He plays all 40 minutes. He plays hard and makes free throws which is so important," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said. "What's tough about him is he can score off the dribble. He's a heck of a guard."

ESPN New York - Colleges Blog: Roller coaster of a win for Johnnies

[D`Angelo Harrison]... boldly predicted at the beginning of the season that this team -- built entirely of freshmen and sophomores, picked to finish 10th in the Big East and coming off a 13-19 record a season ago -- would make the NCAA tournament.

Yet that’s starting to look like a real possibility. St. John’s (13-7) has now won four games in a row, and is 5-3 in the Big East -- tied for third with Pittsburgh, trailing only Syracuse and Marquette.

Yes, they’re taking advantage of a soft part of their schedule, with their past three W’s coming against DePaul, Rutgers and Seton Hall. But St. John’s already has two wins over Top 25 opponents -- and the Johnnies will have the chance to earn at least a couple more in February.

"Coach Lav, he always says we’re just scratching the surface. That’s his motto right now," Harrison said. "We feel the same way."

Ed note: there's a lot of talent on the team. Maybe not third-best in the Big East as Jon Rothstein says, but possibly top-tier...

Newsday: D'Angelo Harrison helps St. John's hold off Seton Hall

"When the lead was cut to one, our kids looked despondent in the timeout," St. John's coach Steve Lavin said. "It was as though we had just lost the game, but we had the one-point lead. This is the Big East. Inevitably, teams are going to make runs. How do we respond so we can get the win?"

St. John's responded in the most sensible way possible by continuing to put the ball in Harrison's hands. The sophomore ended a seven-minute Red Storm drought without a field goal by hitting two tough fadeaway jumpers from the right of the lane and scoring 11 of his team's final 13 points to secure a 71-67 win over Seton Hall.

"That is just our captain stepping up," Sir'Dominic Pointer said. "We are blessed to have him in a tight situation."

NY Post: St. John's holds off Seton Hall for fourth straight Big East win

The Johnnies would have short-circuited an EKG yesterday in their 71-67 win over Seton Hall at MSG.

Shooting almost 70 percent, the Johnnies opened a 16-point lead with 14:44 left. The Hall seized momentum and stormed back to within one with 4:22 left. Only after the Pirates missed two wide open 3s and the front end of a one-and-one did the Cardiac Johnnies seize the win.

"The last four games have some similar themes,'' said St. John's coach Steve Lavin. "Stretches where we play brilliantly and then stretches where teams will make runs on us.''

NY Daily News: St. John’s hangs on for 71-67 Big East win over Seton Hall, D’Angelo Harrison leads Red Storm to fourth-straight win

If Harrison had one shred of regret, it was that his brother, DeAndre, has seen none of the winning streak. DeAndre Harrison, 21, is serving the third year of a 10-year sentence for aggravated assault related to a shooting death in Houston.

He had been able to see several St. John’s games on television until recently. D’Angelo Harrison said the last one was its last loss — the 16-point pounding by Georgetown on Jan. 12.

Harrison, 19, said he and his brother haven’t been able to make their usual calls lately, so he sends email to him each day with all the details on the Johnnies; responses come days later via mail.

Wall Street Journal: Being St. John's 'Kindergarten Cop' - WSJ.com

After battling prostate cancer last season, Lavin has taken on what he is calling his "Kindergarten Cop" role, and coaching a team that regularly plays five sophomores and three freshmen has been, to use his word, exhausting....

Lavin and his players sense they are jelling. They have stumbled along the way—they lost three of four games before the four-game winning streak—and Georgetown, Connecticut, Syracuse and Louisville await in the first two weeks of February.

Sunday's game at Madison Square Garden was enough of a challenge that Lavin practically ran over to shake hands with Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard after the final buzzer. But the Red Storm seems to be getting somewhere.

"I just want to win," Harrison said. "It's time to win here."

Seton Hall Official Site: MBB Rallies, But Falls at St.John's - Seton Hall University Athletics Official Website

Teague scores 22. Edwin passes 1,000 for career.

South Orange Juice: Final - St. John's 71, Seton Hall 67; Pirates Shooting Storm Dries Up in Second, Johnnies Survive

An extremely chippy and poorly officiated final ten minutes saw Seton Hall inch their way within a point at the under four timeout, but D'Angelo Harrison, who made 13 of St. John's last 15 points, proved to be too much for the Pirates and the charity stripe (9-of-10). I can count on one hand the amount of times I've mentioned poor officiating in a game recap during the four years of operating GonzoBall/SOJ, but, this was one of the worst I've seen in recent years.

From missed would-be intentional fouls, to two missed goaltend violations, to the missed finger poke to Fuquan Edwin's eye during a critical and late possession, it was a mess. Seton Hall has every right to be frustrated with the officiating, but, of course, it's difficult to lay claim that the blown calls swayed the final outcome.

Ed note: in our game thread, St. John's fans had similar gripes about partisan officiating - the other way.

NJ.com: Seton Hall rally comes up short in 71-67 loss to St. John's | NJ.com

"We thought we had it," said Seton Hall guard Aaron Cosby. "DeAngelo Harrison made some tough shots. But if we came out and played the first 10 minutes of the second half like we did the last 10 minutes we would’ve left ourselves in better shape."

Even with the nagging issue of inconsistency continuing to plague the Pirates, they had their chances late. They roared most of the way back from a 51-35 deficit with 15:29 to play to to trail by a point before Harrison made one of two free throws.

The Setonian: Late comeback falls short as St. John's beats Seton Hall, 71-67 - The Setonian - Seton Hall University

Both teams started red hot, with each team hitting three of its first four shots. The Pirates (13-7, 2-5) started to pull away early, but St. John’s "stormed" back with a 17-4 run to close the half that was highlighted by a Harrison 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer.

The shot seemed to give the Red Storm momentum as they opened up with a 6-0 run to begin the second half. The team eventually built the lead to as much as 16 points with 15: 30 remaining in the half.

"It was a good effort by our guys," Willard said. "We have to come out in the second half and play a little better."

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