NEW YORK (AP)—Ryan Williams and Phil Missere are the only seniors who see playing time for St. John’s.
They had a unique view of Tuesday night’s game against Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden because it could have been their last time on the court that serves as one of two homes for the Red Storm.
A huge effort from junior Lamont Hamilton—19 points and 15 rebounds—and a game-closing 12-3 run gave St. John’s a 58-47 victory that keeps it alive in the hunt for one of 12 berths in the Big East tournament next month at Madison Square Garden.
“Coach Martin said something before the game that we had to play all out because this could be our last time,” Williams said, referring to assistant coach Jose Martin. “I told Phil we had to play as hard as possible so we could get back here in two weeks.”
The Red Storm (12-13, 5-9), who had lost seven of eight, are still in danger of being one of the four schools not invited to the conference tournament. They are tied for 12th place in the league, a half-game behind Rutgers and Providence.
“I’m not going to lie, it went through my mind throughout the day,” Missere said of possibly missing the Big East tournament for a third straight season.
St. John’s kept itself out of postseason play two years ago after several players were suspended for breaking curfew in Pittsburgh. Last year, the Red Storm missed the tournament as part of their self-probation over admitted NCAA violations that occurred when Mike Jarvis was coach.
“You can call this win ugly but I thought it was pretty as all get-out,” second-year coach Norm Roberts said. “We defend. We take people out of their comfort level.”
Jamar Nutter scored 16 points for Seton Hall (16-9, 7-6), which has lost three of four following a six-game winning streak. The Pirates were looking to make a run at being one of four teams from the Big East to earn a first-round bye in the tournament and they could have moved into a three-way tie for fifth with Georgetown and Marquette with a win.
“No question we competed, but we have to get more done,” Seton Hall coach Louis Orr said, referring to his team being outrebounded 48-31. “Our defense was good and we didn’t shoot the ball well, but nobody missed on purpose.”
The Pirates have three games left in the regular season, at DePaul, home for Cincinnati and at Pittsburgh.
“You shouldn’t have to put the weight of the world on your shoulders every game,” Orr said. “It should just happen.”
Ricky Torres scored on a fast break to give the Red Storm the lead for good at 39-37 with 8:50 to go.
Neither team was able to generate much offense all game. St. John’s, which leads the Big East in defense at 59.8 points per game, shot 18-for-54, including 2-for-12 from 3-point range.
Seton Hall shot 20 percent in the second half (6-for-30) and 28.1 percent overall (16-for-57).
Nutter’s 3-pointer from a couple of feet beyond the NBA line brought Seton Hall to 46-44 with 2:27 to play, but that’s when the Red Storm turned up the defense and started their game-closing run.
Aaron Spears and Eugene Lawrence each had four points as St. John’s went ahead 53-45 with 43 seconds to go. Seton Hall managed one free throw in that span, missed all four shots from the field and turned the ball over once.
St. John’s then went 5-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 31 seconds to end a four-game losing streak to the Pirates.
Lawrence had 10 points for St. John’s, which again played without leading scorer Darryl Hill and third-leading scorer Anthony Mason Jr. Hill is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and Mason missed his second straight game after spraining his ankle in practice last week.
“We played with a lot of energy,” Roberts said. “We played with a lot of passion.”
Kelly Whitney and Donald Copeland each had 11 points for the Pirates.
Seton Hall won the first meeting this season 69-61 in overtime, overcoming a 20-point deficit in the second half.
St. John’s finished 5-5 in the regular season at Madison Square Garden, one of its two home courts. The Red Storm play at Villanova and then close the regular season on March 5 against Rutgers at Carnesecca Arena.
“From the end of the season last year and during the summer, that was definitely one of our main goals, to make the Big East tournament,” Missere said. “We just have to keep coming out with the same passion and energy and play St. John’s basketball, which is defense, and the rest will come, hopefully.”
