Photos from LIU’s 62-59 win over Stonehill on February 8, 2025:
(All photos by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
Sunday, February 9, 2025
High Point places six in double figures in epic, extra-time win over Asheville
Bobby Pettiford's two highest scoring totals have come against Asheville, including 20 in Saturday's win. (Photo: High Point Athletics)
HIGH POINT, N.C. – It almost seemed fitting that High
Point’s 2023-24 regular-season men’s basketball championship trophy was on
display in its arena Saturday night. Given the two teams doing battle in the
Qubein Center, one of them may be holding up the 2024-25 version of that prize
in three weeks.
The matchup of the top two teams in the Big South lived up
to every bit of hype given it, After 204 combined points – and five bonus
minutes – the team atop the circuit was the same one featuring last year’s
trophy.
Six High Point scorers finished in double figures and center
Juslin Bodo Bodo hauled in an eye-popping 21 boards as High Point fended off
Asheville, 104-100, before a capacity crowd of 6,214 in the Qubein Center.
“We were fortunate to come away with a win tonight,” High
Point coach Alan Huss said. “(Asheville) were ready to go. They were hooked up.
We had a couple of stretches where I thought we were the aggressor, but for the
most part, for the 45 minutes we played tonight, I thought they executed better
than us. I thought they handled the basketball better than us. I thought they handled
the basketball better than us. We were just very fortunate.”
The struggle between the sides started almost immediately.
High Point (21-5, 9-2 Big South) broke the seal with a D’Maurian Williams
triple 21 seconds into the game. The proverbial trade of punches ensued from
there. Though High Point continued to hold the lead, separation proved elusive.
Asheville (17-7, 8-2) continued to nip at the Panthers’ heels, staying within
two possessions for the first 15 minutes of the game.
The Bulldogs finally claimed the lead at the 4:28 mark of
the first half, as guard Jordan Marsh splashed a step-back triple to put
Asheville ahead, 34-33. The lead jumped back and forth as the half approached,
with Kimani Hamilton banking home a bucket on the final High Point possession
of the half to give the Panthers a 44-43 lead at the break.
The second half started much as a replay of the first. One
side punched and the other responded. High Point delivered what appeared to be the
first staggering blow 12 minutes into the period. After Marsh sank a
bucket to pull Asheville within two, a one-two combination of threes from
Kezza Giffa and Abdoulaye Thiam in a 30-second span compelled a stoppage from
Asheville coach Mike Morrell with the lead having ballooned to eight.
The lead grew as high as 12 with just over five minutes to
play following two Bodo Bodo free throws. Asheville punched out of its corner,
unfurling an 8-1 run over the next minute and a half to slice the deficit back
to five. The Bulldogs again were knocked back on their heels, though, as High
Point got a Hamilton bucket and Williams free throw to stretch the margin back
to eight points. Asheville then delivered a 7-0 run to snip the margin back to
one at 84-83 with just over a minute left.
The ensuing High Point possession put the Panthers in what
they thought was a comfortable spot. Bobby Pettiford canned a jumper just
inside the free throw line with 31 seconds to play. Asheville had a Marsh try
blocked on its final possession, but Greg Gantt snared the loose ball and kicked
back to Marsh, who hit a high-arcing shot to tie the game. Pettiford’s final
try of regulation rimmed out, forcing an overtime period.
“You get punched like we got punched at the end – we’ve got
some things we’ve got to execute better,” Huss said. “We did everything under
the sun to allow them to put that game into overtime. That was disappointing,
because we’ve worked on a lot of those things at this juncture. We relaxed a
little bit, and again, credit to them for having the tenacity to keep coming.”
“When you get gut-punched like that, it’s really easy to lay
down and quit. I was really pleased with our group’s effort and resolve to come
back, punch back, and get off to a nice start in overtime. Winning in college
basketball is very difficult, especially when you’re playing against a team
that’s playing confident basketball and is as good offensively as Asheville is.
They were tremendous.”
High Point responded in extra time. The Panthers expanded
their lead as high as seven points on a pair of Giffa free throws with 53
seconds to play in the overtime period. Asheville, as it had all night, threw
one more haymaker. The Bulldogs unfurled an 8-2 run bookended by Marsh triples,
snipping the home side’s advantage to 100-99 with nine seconds remaining.
Williams made two more free throws to put High Point ahead, 102-99, with one
more Asheville possession left.
Marsh took a feed from a teammate and raced up the left
sideline. As he neared center court, Giffa fouled Marsh, sending him to the
line for pair of free throws. Marsh made the first, then attempted to miss the
second. Marsh’s try did not hit the rim, though, leading to a lane violation
and allowing Williams to salt away the game from the line on the other end.
“Statistically -- I think that though everyone says to foul
(in that scenario), I think it’s just slightly the other way, where it’s slightly
in your favor if you don’t,” Huss said. “I didn’t think we could take another
gut punch. That is something we’ve worked on. We were fortunate to execute it.
Obviously, they didn’t hit the rim on their second free throw opportunity. Had
it missed and hit rim, I’m not certain that we would have been able to defend
like we needed to. I didn’t know if we could withstand another gut punch, where
they hit a three at the buzzer to send it into a second overtime. I thought it
was the right play.”
Bodo Bodo – while not the leading scorer for the Panthers –
was arguably the most impactful. The sophomore center hauled in 21 of the
Panthers’ 45 rebounds and tallied 19 points. Both numbers were career-bests.
“Juslin was just a monster today,” Huss said. “He just – eight offensive
rebounds in 31 minutes, and to convert on those plays so many times, to be able
to finish and anchor our offense with the lob threat that he was and the lob
finishes was just tremendous.”
“Juslin’s really good at cleaning up on that weak side. Bodo
versus whoever is their weak-side guy that has to crack down in that situation
was not much of a match. He really made them pay. That’s something we practice
every day. Bodo’s really bought into that role, and I’m proud of the way he
executed tonight.”
Pettiford and Giffa each scored 20 for High Point. Hamilton
added 17, while Williams contributed 14. Thiam tallied 11 in reserve duty. High
Point’s bench added 34 points in the contest. The Panthers shot 51.4 percent
(37-for-72) on the night, adding 27-of-33 (81.8 percent) from the line. High
Point collected 62 of its 104 points in the paint, outpacing Asheville by 30 in
the category.
Marsh finished with career-highs in points (33), rebounds
(eight), field goals (13), and threes (six). Guard Josh Banks finished with 20
on 6-of-14 from the field, hitting four threes. Forward Toyaz Solomon scored 17
points and snared seven caroms, while Fletcher Abee pitched in 10. The Bulldogs
hit 45.8 percent (33-of-72) of their tries from the deck, adding 12 threes on
27 tries (44.4 percent) and 22-of-29 (75.9 percent) from the stripe.
High Point seized back first place in the Big South with the
win. The Panthers return to league play Thursday night, welcoming Longwood to
the Qubein Center for the ESPNU wildcard game. Coverage is slated for 7:00
(Eastern). Asheville next takes the deck Wednesday night against regional rival
USC Upstate. Game time from the Hodge Center in Spartanburg, S.C., is set for
7:00.
HIGH POINT 104, ASHEVILLE 100 (OT)
ASHEVILLE (17-7, 8-2 BIG SOUTH)
Solomon 8-14 1-2 17, Gantt 1-1 6-6 8, Marsh 13-27 1-5 33,
Banks 6-14 4-4 20, Abee 3-10 2-2 10, Taylor 2-4 4-5 9, Davis 0-2 3-4 3, Clarke
0-0 0-0 0, Dubsky 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-72 22-29 100.
HIGH POINT (21-5, 9-2)
Hamilton 7-13 3-3 17, Bodo Bodo 8-11 3-7 19, Giffa 6-13 7-7
20, Johnston 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 3-11 7-8 14, Pettiford 7-13 6-6 20, Benham 0-0
1-2 1, Hildebrandt 1-2 0-0 2, Thiam 5-7 0-0 11, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-72
27-33 104.
Halftime: High Point 44-43. 3-Point
goals: Asheville 12-27 (Marsh 6-12, Banks 4-10, Abee 2-6), High
Point 3-13 (Hamilton 0-3, Giffa 1-3, Williams 1-4, Thiam 1-3). Fouled
out: Bodo Bodo (HPU), Banks (AVL).
Rebounds: High Point 45 (Bodo Bodo 21), Asheville 33 (Solomon
7). Total fouls: Asheville 23, High Point 19.
Technicals: Bodo Bodo (HPU), TEAM (HPU).
Points off turnovers: Asheville 22, High Point 16. Points in the paint: High Point 62, Asheville 32. Second-chance points: Asheville 21, High Point 16. Fast-break points: High Point 17, Asheville 15. Bench points: High Point 34, Asheville 12.
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Despite mentions in NFL circles, Paul Otieno remains focused on basketball
Paul Otieno’s physicality and rebounding prowess has made him an all-MAAC talent, but Quinnipiac big man is also drawing casual interest in another field, as feelers have been put out about his pro football potential. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)
HAMDEN, Conn. — It’s highly uncommon, but the college basketball to professional football pipeline is flooded with talent.
Stars like Jimmy Graham, Julius Peppers and Julius Thomas all succeeded in the NFL, despite playing limited, if any, snaps of college football.
That pipeline may not potentially stretch through to Hamden, Connecticut, in the near future, but it’s not impossible.
In a throwaway line said on a February 20, 2024 MAAC Insider podcast, Quinnipiac men’s basketball head coach Tom Pecora mentioned how NFL teams had started to hit his phone up.
“I’ve been reached out to by three or four friends in the NFL over the years,” Pecora said to interviewer John Fanta. “This year, they’ve all gotten back to me about, ‘is he capable of being a tight end?’”
The player in question? Graduate student forward Paul Otieno.
“I'm friends with (former NFL most valuable player) Boomer Esiason (and) he's friends with the general manager of the (Indianapolis) Colts, Chris Ballard,” Pecora said. “Boomer would have him call me once in a while, and just have me throw names by him.”
Pecora did want to make sure those original comments were said tongue in cheek, but it’s been something that Esiason and Ballard have done for years.
But does Otieno—who was raised in Nairobi, Kenya, and was surrounded by rugby, not football, growing up—even want to pursue a career on the gridiron?
“I don’t really know much about football,” Otieno said. “I’ve been way better now, watching tight ends play.”
The mild-mannered Otieno announced his return for a third season at Quinnipiac on April 5 of last year, and the second team all-MAAC player is already playing at an all-conference level. He leads the MAAC in double-doubles (10) and just scored a career-high 28 points in Saturday’s loss to Niagara.
“The redemption season is coming up for us,” Otieno said before the season. “This year, we want to go all the way to the top.”
The Colts were the ones to make some form of contact with the Pecora, but finding under-the-radar talent is something every NFL team does during the league offseason.
“We scout everybody,” New England Patriots director of pro scouting Camren Williams wrote. “(We) leave no stone unturned.”
NFL interest in college basketball stars has been a recurring theme. NC State forward DJ Burns used his March Madness platform to showcase his physical prowess last postseason, and the MAAC is no stranger to cultivating football talent on the hardwood either. Former Canisius forward Chris Manhertz has carved out a nine-year NFL career for five different teams since donning a Griffs jersey, most recently as a member of the New York Giants. While Otieno has yet to get to the level Burns reached at NC State, he has still brought a powerful demeanor to the court.
“Paul’s a beast and whenever he's dominating, it affects us all,” graduate student guard Savion Lewis said on March 13. “It's very contagious throughout the whole entire team. So whenever Paul kills (it), we're all happy.”
Having NFL-caliber talent on the basketball court isn’t a new concept for Pecora. During his head coaching stints at Hofstra and Fordham, he played against future football stars.
“My first game as the head coach at Hofstra, we played against Antonio Gates, who went on to become a Hall of Fame tight end,” Pecora said. “And then (Mo-Alie Cox) from VCU, who’s a tight end for the Colts now. Paul is in that realm. I would imagine there (would be) a transition period. I have no idea, I coached junior high football 40 years ago.”
It may be a bit too early to start pre-ordering Otieno jerseys from the NFL Shop, but come April, Pecora says anything is up in the air.
“You just never know if there’s an opportunity to go have a great career,” Pecora said. “Who knows? Hopefully he rebounds like a football player this year.”
For Otieno, this year has just about basketball.
“Basketball now, football later,” he said with a laugh.
Late run seals Charleston Southern win over Gardner-Webb
By Jacob Conley (@gwujake)
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — Charleston Southern went on a 9-0 run in the final 1:40 seconds to hold off a valiant comeback by Gardner-Webb, defeating the Runnin’ Bulldogs Saturday, 79-72.
CSU superstar Taje’ Kelly scored a game-high 31 points, but it was Keenan Wilkins and Lamar Oden, Jr. who hit 3-pointers during that stretch to key the decisive run.
“That was the difference in the game,” Gardner-Webb head coach Jeremy Luther said. “They hit big shots in the last two minutes of the game and we didn’t. We showed great fight to come back and take the lead, but we did not get the stops defensive when we needed them. That’s on me as a head coach to figure out.”
Charleston Southern hit a pair of early threes, prompting Luther to call a timeout. Buddy Simmons answered on the other end with a three of his own, but the Bucs hit two more triples before the first media stoppage and led 14-6. After the stoppage, Jacob Hudson came off the bench to convert an acrobatic layup and Anthony Selden scored on a drive to the basket to cut the deficit to 15-12.
CSU answered with a quick 8-0 run to grab its first double-digit lead, at 23-12. Jamaine Mann broke the run with a runner and Simmons hit a three from the corner. The home team had a hard time securing rebounds on either end of the floor, allowing CSU to pull back in front, 26-17.
Mann scored on a nice spin move and also knocked down a long three. Isaiah Richards then hit four in a row from the foul line as part of a 9-0 Gardner-Webb run. By the time Pharrell Boyogueno converted an old-fashioned three-point play, the game was tied at 30. GWU took its first lead of the game on a pair of technical foul shots, but CSU took a 38-36 lead into the locker room on a buzzer-beater by Daylen Berry.
The teams traded buckets to start the second half, but the bigger story was that CSU picked up three personal fouls in the first 90 seconds of the half. The teams kept trading buckets with GWU trailing, 45-44. Kelly began to take over from that point, scoring seven straight points for the visitors as they built a 10-point lead.
Simmons and Selden hit threes to cut the deficit back to 54-50, but another triple from Kelly kept the Bulldogs at bay. Mann hit four in a row from the stripe to cut the deficit to 66-59 and Kelly picked up his fourth foul with 6:22 left to play. Mann hit two foul shots on the other end, and by the time Hudson had a steal and layup, GWU only trailed by two, 69-67, with exactly four minutes remaining in regulation.
The zone trap continued to pay dividends, as a turnover led to Ademide Badmus tying the game at 70. After a stop, Mann threw down a dunk to give GWU a 72-70 lead. Those would be the last points the hosts would score, though, as the aforementioned 9-0 run proved to be the difference in the win by the Buccaneers.
There’s A First Time For Everything: With the win, Charleston Southern has swept Gardner-Webb for the first time in program history. The Runnin’ Bulldogs still lead the overall series, 27-9.
At 4-7 in the conference, this could be the first time in the Craft/Luther era that GWU finishes below the .500 mark in Big South play (13 seasons). It could also be the first time GWU falls to the play-in round of the Big South tournament’s current format. The Runnin’ Bulldogs are currently 4-7 in conference play, just a half-game ahead of Presbyterian in seventh place.
Stats Tell The Tale: One does not have to look far to see why CSU won and GWU lost. The Bucs outrebounded the Bulldogs, 35-27, outscoring them 21-10 in second-chance points. GWU was also just 4-for-21 from beyond the arc.
“We were only 1-for-19 down there,” Luther said. “We have to do better. “We are a better shooting team than that.”
You Da Mann: Jamaine Mann scored a career-high 30 points in the loss. He was 9-for-11 from the field and 11-of-12 from the foul line.
“He had a great game,” Luther said of Mann’s performance. “We kept feeding him because they were in foul trouble. He responded well, playing off of both feet, but we could not get over the hump.”
Don’t Stop Believing: Those words are not just song lyrics made famous by Journey, but it was also the message Luther gave to his team after the game.
“We are still a good basketball team,” he said. “I know we have lost three in a row, but we are right there. A possession or two go the other way and we win those games. It’s my job as coach to figure out how to make that happen and also keep the team motivated. We have to keep believing, and that starts with picking up our first road win at USC Upstate.”
Up Next: GWU will look to bounce back with that trip to Spartanburg on Saturday, while CSU tries to continue its climb up the standings, hosting Presbyterian on Wednesday.
Quinnipiac’s bad habit comes back to bite Bobcats in loss to Niagara
Amarri Monroe goes up for dunk, but his 22 points and 10 rebounds were squandered as Quinnipiac suffered last-second loss to Niagara. (Photo by Quinnipiac Athletics)
By Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports)
HAMDEN, Conn. — If you don’t nip bad habits in the bud, they tend to flare back up, sometimes in the worst times possible.
For Quinnipiac, allowing teams to fight back into games and steal a win is what gave Niagara a 76-75 win over the Bobcats Saturday afternoon.
Whether it’s struggling to defend the three-ball, not grabbing enough offensive rebounds or just missing an internal fire in late-game situations, head coach Tom Pecora attributed it all to why Quinnipiac allowed a late comeback en route to its second loss in three games.
“Once again, we’re not learning from our mistakes,” Pecora said. “We’ve been in this situation before where we get up double digits and then let people back in. And it’s a bad habit, you know? It’s a really bad habit for a team to have.”
The first half played out just how the Bobcats hoped it would. Paul Otieno started the game with a three-pointer—something that’s been a drastic improvement for him this year—before Amarri Monroe got a number of quick buckets on his own.
But Niagara head coach Greg Paulus’ team hung around. At halftime, it was tied at 37. Nearing the end of the second half, the Purple Eagles were down by just a single basket. While the Bobcats appeared to be controlling the game, it started to slip through the cracks.
“One of the things we talked about was defending the stripe, not letting them get good looks from three,” Pecora said. “That’s what let them back in the game.”
Major baskets down the stretch, including a pair of massive triples from Niagara graduate wing Justice Smith, took the life out of a Quinnipiac team that had been slowly losing air. Massive performances from Otieno (a career-high 28 points), Monroe (22 points, 10 rebounds) and graduate guard Savion Lewis (a season-best 11 assists) were tossed to the side.
“But only three offensive rebounds,” Pecora remarked. “They did a great job of checking us out and making sure we couldn’t get to the offensive glass. And that’s obviously been a strong suit for us, second shot opportunities.”
Otieno—who had been nearing the top of the national rebounding leaderboards—was held to just three on the day, none of them on the offensive side. Instead, the Purple Eagles were able to force Quinnipiac’s hand, often settling for an outside kick or a picked-up dribble in the paint.
With a chance to take the lead with under two seconds to play, Monroe had the ball in his hands and got smothered. With no Bobcats to help him out and the game clock drastically dwindling, a low-chance shot got hoisted and Niagara walked out of Hamden with its fourth MAAC win.
“I think he just got caught up, he shouldn’t have given up his dribble,” Pecora said on what he saw on the play. “Then he tried to step through and put something up there soft. We should have people all over the rim, but guys were just watching, and that was kind of a thing from the whole day.”
It’s hard to win when 50 of Quinnipiac’s 75 points are scored by two players. The rest of the Bobcat starting five mustered just 12 total points on 4-for-15 shooting from the field, and defensively, bad switches gave Niagara the hot hand when it mattered.
“I think some of our switches at the end were poor,” Pecora said about having Otieno on top of the perimeter. “You don’t want the five-man out there, and it was a switch that didn’t need to happen. It was kind of lazy. So we got into a lazy switch situation.”
The Bobcats will have some time to regroup—tomorrow will be an off day for the team—ahead of preparations for Friday’s nationally-televised game at Sacred Heart. So despite the loss, what is the team going to take away from the game?
“We’ve just got to raise our intensity and our toughness,” Pecora said. “If you want to win big, you can win, but you can’t win big unless you have an edge to you.”
Inside the Numbers: Lipscomb at Queens
Lipscomb guard Gyasi Powell scored a career-best 23 -- including 21 in the second half -- in the Bisons' Saturday victory at Queens. (Photo: Lipscomb Athletics)
CHARLOTTE – Cliches suck. Call it as it is.
However, the old “tale of two halves” story was as prevalent
– and accurate – as ever Saturday afternoon in Curry Arena.
Following a huge momentum shift courtesy of a 12-0 Queens
run at the end of the first half, everything changed – and quickly changed.
Lipscomb tallied a staggering 61 second-half points and booked nearly 1.75
points per possession in the period, turning away Queens, 94-81, in a battle
for a share of first place in the ASUN Saturday at Curry Arena.
“I thought they did a really good job executing the second
half,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said after the game. “Hats off to them for
having an unbelievable shooting half. They actually started the game like that,
and then we really buckled down in the first half, the last eight to ten
minutes. We weren't able to get that rhythm defensively in the second half. I
thought that we started to guard the three, and then we started giving up
straight-line drives, which is not like us.”
Now that you know what happened, let’s take a dive…Inside
the Numbers!
- That second-half number is the story. Lipscomb’s 61 points in the stanza – though unconfirmed as of now – absolutely have to be a season-high. The Bisons scored 40 of those points in the first 10:49 of the half, opening a 10-point advantage at 73-63. More on the second-half performance in a bit – first, let’s examine the opening 20.
- To Leonard’s point, the Bisons started the game by wresting early control. Lipscomb seized the advantage just over five-and-a-half minutes into the game, eventually stretching the advantage to as many as seven points on two of all-leaguer Jacob Ognacevic’s first-half points. Queens set the nets ablaze from there, booking 21 of the final 26 points in the half and closing with 12 unanswered to take a 42-33 lead to the interval. Leo Colimerio tallied the first 11 of those 21 half-ending points.
- Queens dominated the hustle stats in that opening half. The Royals outscored the Bisons, 13-0, off turnovers while scoring on 60 percent of their first-half possessions. Queens’ bench also enjoyed a 13-0 advantage in the stanza. The Royals managed just four second-half points off Bison miscues and surrendered 10 points on turnovers in the second 20. Lipscomb also added 13 points in transition in the second half.
- Another notable second-half stat resulted in a career high. Jacksonville transfer Gyasi Powell struggled in the opening period, shooting just 1-for-7 and scoring two points. Powell also registered a minus-13 in the period. That completely flipped in the second period, as he shot 6-for-10 (4-for-6 from three) and finished with a career-best 23.
“In the end, it was the threes from Powell. It was the threes from the other guys that really crushed us,” Leonard said.
- Powell also took part in a sequence that served as a microcosm for much of the game. The Royals defended Lipscomb for 29 seconds of the possession before Powell attempted a layup. Lipscomb managed just three offensive rebounds in the contest, but one of those offensive rebounds fell into Powell’s hands, which he put back and collected a bucket and a foul. The sequence pushed Lipscomb’s lead from six to nine with just over two minutes to play, and the play largely ended Queens’ hopes for a comeback.
“They already had a decent cushion then, but when you're playing a team that executes like that, you can't give up easy layups,” Leonard said. “We gave up three backdoor cuts. Our game plan was not to be extended at all, so it was a couple different guys who are veterans. They’ve got to know better. The back cuts weren't acceptable. That’s something we'll watch on film, because if we're going to win championships, those little execution things have to happen defensively.”
- Lipscomb is as solid a team fundamentally as there is in this or any other league. The Bisons lived up to that label again Saturday, hitting 16-of-17 free throw tries. The solid performance from the stripe aided in the Bisons’ keeping their distance from the Royals. Queens, for their part, shot 17-of-25.
- Queens suffered a significant loss in Wednesday’s win at Central Arkansas. Forward Jaxon Pollard injured his hand and was unavailable for the game. He will likely be out for an extended period, which means forward Maban Jabriel will be called on to fill in not just for Pollard’s role in the paint, but in bringing energy to the Royals. Saturday was a bit of a mixed bag.
“There were good spurts and bad spurts, which is pretty typical for a freshman, I thought,” Leonard said. “When we went on that run in the first half, his energy was high. He won a couple of 50-50 rebounds and loose balls, and I was really proud of him for that. I don't think yet that he's quite ready to do it for a full 40 minutes for an entire game, and we've got to get him there. He’s going to have to play more while Jaxon's out, and hopefully Jaxon can be back soon. Maban’s got to just continue to grow and get better.”
- Queens didn’t get the result it wanted but still has a lot to play for in its final campaign before gaining NCAA tournament eligibility.
“I told our guys in the locker room, winning championships is about the tough stuff,” Leonard said.
Powell’s 23 led all Lipscomb scorers. Joe Anderson booked 21
to join Powell in doubles. Will Pruitt sank 6-of-10 from the deck and all six
tries from the stripe to tally 19, while Ognacevic collected his third
double-double in the last five games by scoring 18 and corralling 10 caroms.
Charlie Williams added 10 in the Bisons’ victorious effort.
Colimerio paced all scorers on the day with 26 for the
Royals. The grad transfer sank 10-of-15 tries from the deck and hit all three
of his three-point tries. Kalib Mathews tallied 14 on 4-of-9 shooting and
5-of-7 from the line, while Bryce Cash and Chris Ashby added 11 apiece.
Both teams return to play Thursday. Lipscomb hosts Stetson
in Allen Arena in Nashville, with a tip time set for 8:15 (Eastern) and
coverage over ESPN+. Queens travels to Freedom Hall in Louisville to take on
Bellarmine in a 6:30 tilt which will be streamed by ESPN+.
LIPSCOMB 94, QUEENS 81
LIPSCOMB (17-8, 9-3 ASUN)
Williams 3-5 2-2 10, Ognacevic 7-11 1-1 18, Pruitt 6-10 6-6
19, Powell 7-17 5-6 23, Anderson 8-11 2-2 21, White 1-3 0-0 3, Suber 0-1 0-0 0,
Boylan 0-1 0-0 0, Houck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-59 16-17 94.
QUEENS (15-10, 8-4)
Colimerio 10-15 3-5 26, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Mathews 4-9 5-7
14, Cash 4-6 3-4 11, Ashby 5-9 0-0 11, Mann 2-5 0-0 5, Jabriel 2-4 1-1 6,
Berman 1-5 5-8 8, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Nevill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-53 17-25 81.
Halftime: Queens 42-33. 3-Point
goals: Lipscomb 14-30 (Williams 2-3, Ognacevic 3-4, Pruitt 1-3,
Powell 4-10, Anderson 3-5, White 1-3, Suber 0-1, Boylan 0-1), Queens 8-17
(Colimerio 3-3, Mathews 1-4, Ashby 1-2, Mann 1-1, Jabriel 1-3, Berman 1-4). Fouled
out: Williams (LU). Rebounds: Lipscomb
29 (Ognacevic 10), Queens 24 (Jabriel 7). Total fouls: Queens 19,
Lipscomb 18. Technicals: NA.
Points off turnovers: Queens 17, Lipscomb 10. Points
in the paint: Queens 34, Lipscomb 30. Second-chance
points: Lipscomb 10, Queens 4. Fast-break
points: Lipscomb 13, Queens 5. Bench points: Queens
19, Lipscomb 3.
St. John’s may not be attractive, but its commitment to winning needs to be appreciated
RJ Luis goes up for game-winning shot Friday as St. John’s won 10th straight, defeating UConn to continue sensational run in Rick Pitino’s second season. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)
You don’t have to like it, you don’t even have to embrace it.
What you should do, though, at the very least, is respect it.
Much was made of St. John’s ability to withstand a punch this week as the Red Storm entered arguably its two biggest tests of the season, matchups against teams in Marquette and UConn who were nationally ranked much like the Johnnies. And yet again, with criticism and skepticism on the surface, St. John’s handled it the exact same way.
It won, in a throwback fashion.
After a masterpiece on the boards Tuesday in which Marquette gave up 50 rebounds, St. John’s resorted to a throwback shutdown Friday against two-time reigning national champion UConn, negating a 14-point lead by holding the Huskies to just 36 points over the final 31-plus minutes of a 68-62 victory that likely vaults the Red Storm into a Top 10 team in the country, perhaps as high as sixth or seventh when the new polls are released Monday afternoon.
“We’ve been down before, down big, and we always find a way to fight back,” Kadary Richmond revealed as the Johnnies completed their fourth comeback of 14 points or more this season. “Just refusing to lose and having a will to win, and knowing we’re one of the best teams out here, we’re gonna keep on working, being humble and being who we are.”
The will to win, an infectious spirit that has been expounded upon both in this space and several other outlets, has manifested itself organically in Rick Pitino’s second season on the corner of Union and Utopia. The uptick in year two under his aegis has also been monitored closely, but the motivation boils down to nothing more than a greater desire, says RJ Luis.
“I think we look at the ball as food,” the junior wing posited. “We’re trying to just take it. Like I said, I feel like we’re a bunch of dogs. We play hard, and we just want it more than them. When you’ve got people like that around you that want to push you every day, you want to push back. I feel like all the guys do that very well.”
Perhaps no one has wanted it more than Luis as this fairytale season has progressed. In Big East play, from the 8-minute mark of the second half to the final buzzer, the UMass transfer is shooting 55 percent (22-for-40) from the floor down the stretch. If that isn’t impressive enough, Luis has ratcheted up the clutch gene in his last six games, making 13 of his last 17 attempts in that stretch from the final 8:00 on. His magnum opus may have come Friday, with the shot clock winding down in the final seconds of regulation. Assistant coach Bob Walsh called a baseline out of bounds play that Pitino termed a “five-down counter,” delivering the ball to Luis inside the right corner with a tight three-second window to execute. A flawless exchange, the shot splashed through the net, furthering one of those forever runs and solidifying the Red Storm’s grip on the Big East standings.
“He had the right guy shooting the ball,” Pitino said of Walsh’s tactics. “(Luis) never met a shot he didn’t like, and there was no doubt in my mind he was gonna make the shot. I was 100 percent sure he would make the shot. There’s no better scorer, I think, in the Big East than RJ.”
Luis was the hero in that moment, but he also knew the job—as Richmond suggested after the Marquette win three days prior—was not finished.
“It was just straight adrenaline,” he countered. “I knew I made the shot, but the game wasn’t over until the buzzer sounds. We came out swinging, we came out fighting hard like we always do. All the guys want to win. We’re very hungry.”
St. John’s now has the second-best defense in the nation, per Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, after placing UConn in the proverbial vise on Friday. Only Tennessee, who the Red Storm would have met in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship had it not lost to Baylor, owns a more efficient defense by the numbers.
“We’re playing great basketball right now,” Pitino admitted. “Our defense is one of the best in the country, we’re getting better offensively. This team has a unique ability to create possessions. We’ve done a great job defensively of coming together each and every game. We know that’s our common denominator, and I’m proud of this.”
The hall of fame coach has stressed humility among his players in the midst of the program’s best season since the halcyon days of 1985, citing it as the biggest factor in the current success. But if you told him he would be presiding over a 21-3 team, with its three losses coming by a grand total of five points and two of those three defeats coming under noticeable scrutiny, how would he react?
“I would have said, ‘how the fuck did we lose that one game?’” Pitino quipped. “I’m proud of the guys. Everybody from St. John’s is behind us, we’ve got everybody on board. We are putting it all together, putting the Garden together with the fans. This is a total team effort, and we’ve got a great team right now. I’m proud of everybody, top to bottom. We’ve got it going right now and we’re not gonna let it slide one bit.”
In all sports, it doesn’t matter how you win. All that matters is that you win. St. John’s has demonstrated that this season with its atypical style. What the Red Storm lacks in style points, it overcompensates for with a nuts-and-bolts resume that makes any basketball purist proud of the finished product. Pitino bristled at the notion of those who doubt his team’s potential, highlighting one common goal, even if the rough edges surrounding it would not win a beauty pageant.
With a mindset like that, in a notoriously blue-collar city that embraces its own and unabashedly backs its lunchpail mentality, it does not have to be loved. It should, however, at the very least, be appreciated.
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