26 Greatest Games: 12-6

Some of my greatest memories behind the microphone have had Madison Square Garden for a backdrop.  (Photo courtesy of the author's personal collection)

Over the last two days, I have shared some of the brief highlights of my five-year career while recounting twenty-six of the greatest games I have either called or covered.  This third installment of the series starts off with contests I have watched on behalf of this site before transitioning into the play-by-play archives.  Before I continue the list at No. 12, let's get caught up to speed on the seven games that made the cut in the second of our five-part series:

19) St. John's vs. Seton Hall - February 5, 2009, Prudential Center

18) St. John's vs. Notre Dame - February 25, 2012, Madison Square Garden

17) St. John's vs. Seton Hall - February 22, 2009, Carnesecca Arena

16) St. Francis (NY) vs. Seton Hall - November 12, 2011, Prudential Center

15) St. John's vs. Cincinnati - January 22, 2009, Carnesecca Arena

14) St. John's vs. Rutgers - February 2, 2011, Carnesecca Arena

13) St. John's vs. Providence - February 9, 2008, Carnesecca Arena

12) St. John's vs. Rutgers - March 9, 2011, Madison Square Garden (Big East Tournament second round)

The ending of this game speaks for itself, as do the numerous controversial missed calls by referees Jim Burr and Tim Higgins.  Even as a St. John's alum and media member, this was a game the Red Storm had no business winning.  Rutgers had their interstate rivals dead to rights in a "Mike Rice special" game, and when the Scarlet Knights pulled even with St. John's inside the final minute, I couldn't help but think Rutgers was going to pull off the upset.  Even after Mike Coburn was fouled by D.J. Kennedy despite no call and an interception by Justin Brownlee off a Gilvydas Biruta inbounds pass, the game was not over at the time.  Brownlee then drove the baseline and stepped out of bounds with 1.7 seconds remaining in regulation, perhaps influenced by coach Steve Lavin making his way up the sideline to shake his counterpart Mike Rice's hand.  The officials missed Brownlee's travel, as well as his throwing the ball into the stands, which was grounds for a technical foul.  After the game, Rice showed his true class with a professional approach to his press conference when many expected a tirade of some sorts.

11) Fordham vs. St. John's - December 11, 2010, Rose Hill Gym

I love Rose Hill.  Let me clarify that first and foremost, and this was the case even before I started covering the Rams regularly.  Of all the places I have been to, there is no better venue to watch a game at.  Even the worst seat in the house feels like you're right on top of the action, and when it gets close to capacity, the nation's oldest venue is about as loud as any in the country.  This game in question was my first visit to the Bronx, and I was fortunate enough to see arguably one of the better games of the season at that point.  With St. John's up 60-39 in the second half, it seemed as if the Red Storm would overcome the curse of their alternate black jerseys (in which they have only won one game since their inception) and demolish the Rams, but Fordham would have none of it.  Feeding off a sellout crowd and raucous student section, Tom Pecora's scrappy team put together two separate 16-0 runs to draw closer to; and eventually wrest away the lead from, the Red Storm.  St. John's was unable to make a basket down the stretch as Fordham held on for the 84-81 victory and subsequent rushing of the court.

10) St. John's vs. Connecticut - February 10, 2011, Madison Square Garden

The latest I ever showed up for a game came this night, as personal circumstances kept me from arriving at Madison Square Garden until about 6pm, one hour before the Huskies and Johnnies took the court.  Thankfully, a special someone was on hand to put me at ease and in a better mood.  On the hardwood, Dwight Hardy had yet another career night, going for 33 points as the Red Storm methodically outplayed and handily defeated the eventual national champions by the final of 89-72 in one of the few moments where Jim Calhoun and UConn had no answer for St. John's.

9) St. John's vs. Villanova - February 26, 2011, Wells Fargo Center

The breaking of the "WSJU curse" was one of the many highlights of my trip to Philadelphia, as prior to this day, no modern-era WSJU member had seen a St. John's win on the road.  Jim's Steaks on South Street provided the pregame dining, as I stopped there on the way to the arena along with David and Quinn Rochford.  Villanova's decision to wear their 1985 national championship throwback uniforms was one that complemented the St. John's red quite well, and the backcourt matchup was the key to the game.  Dwight Hardy's ability to score from seemingly anywhere on the court served to further expose the difficulty that Villanova's "Lost Boys" backcourt of Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes had in making shots, as the Red Storm pulled away late for a convincing 81-68 victory.

8) St. Francis (NY) vs. LIU Brooklyn - February 8, 2012, Madison Square Garden

This was huge for me considering I got to do play-by-play at the Garden again for the first time since 2009, and I had spent the three years in between wondering if and when I would ever make it back.  Needless to say, I was courtside on the call for the first time ever; and before signing on for my pregame show, I was met by Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin, a good friend from our past media day encounters who had just wrapped up his postgame interview following the Bearcats' win over St. John's.  After a whirlwind experience of final preparations that included my pregame interview with Glenn Braica and a pregame reunion with a person who has become a good luck charm of sorts, Cronin walked up and shook my hand before retreating to the media room.  I then proceeded to have one of my better broadcasts in a long time, and the game was a good one too.  St. Francis hung tough as they always do against their adversary LIU Brooklyn, as the two schools separated by a mere ten-minute walk contested a better game than St. John's and Cincinnati before them, with the Blackbirds prevailing 86-77.

7) St. John's vs. Seton Hall - March 1, 2008, Carnesecca Arena

"MASON KNOCKS IT DOWN!"

With those four words, I had the first memorable call of my career; one that did not get on the air until the five-minute mark of the second half, as producer Reginald Bazile scrambled to patch me through after arriving in the studio straight from a spring break trip in Vermont.  Anthony Mason Jr. had guided the Red Storm through a trap game against Seton Hall, but his three with a second and a half remaining in regulation was what won it for the Johnnies.  After Mason hit the trifecta to give the Red Storm the 65-62 margin that ultimately served as the final score, then-freshman Jeremy Hazell hit a three of his own from the St. John's benches to tie the game, roughly 65 feet away.  However, Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez called a timeout before Hazell got the shot off, negating the shot and preserving the victory for St. John's.  Years later, I revisited the game with Gonzalez; who revealed to me that he could not believe Hazell had made the shot, telling his guard "Are you kidding me?" in disbelief as the teams made their way back to their respective benches.

6) St. John's vs. Notre Dame - January 3, 2009, Madison Square Garden

From the moment the schedule was announced, this game was my personal Super Bowl.  Even though I graduated, I came back to WSJU for the 2008-09 season, and made it a point to take the call for the Fighting Irish game by using my power as the sports director.  This game marked the return of Keith Arias as my color commentator, as well as the debut of the pregame interview; which I had conducted earlier in the week with Notre Dame shooting guard Kyle McAlarney, a Staten Island native who was playing one of his final games in his hometown.  McAlarney managed only ten points amid intense pressure from Paris Horne on the defensive end, forcing Luke Harangody to carry the Irish on his back in a 28-point, 14-rebound performance that kept the outcome in doubt until the forward picked up his fifth foul late in the second half.  D.J. Kennedy's free throws provided the icing on the cake for St. John's, who upended the seventh-ranked Irish by the final of 71-65 to give coach Norm Roberts the biggest win of his career.