December 1, 2012, NJIT-St. John's Red Storm men's college basketball regular season game story for the Associated Press
St. John's overcomes deficit, beats NJIT 57-49
Associated Press
NEW YORK — St. John's entered its non-conference matchup against New Jersey Institute of Technology smiling and laughing.
They left breathing a sigh of relief.
"We (kind of) forgot about the game," said Chris Obekpa after the Red Storm's 57-49 comeback victory over NJIT on Saturday.
Added St. John's coach Steve Lavin: "If we're at Syracuse or Villanova and spot them a 14-point lead, it makes it difficult to come back."
D'Angelo Harrison scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, while JaKarr Sampson had a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Red Storm (5-2). Sampson's 17 rebounds were the most for St. John's since Lamont Hamilton grabbed 17 boards in a 67-61 win over Niagara on Nov. 26, 2005.
St. John's out-rebounded NJIT 48-42 for the game, including 33-21 in the second half.
"It came down to rebounding at the end," NJIT coach Jim Engles said. "There was a lot of activity on the glass."
Ryan Woods scored 16 points for NJIT (4-3). All three of the Highlanders' losses this season have come on the road. Terrence Smith and Chris Flores finished with 10 points apiece.
St. John's started the second half on a 19-5 run to help turn a 35-23 halftime deficit to a 42-40 lead. Harrison started the comeback with three putbacks and a 3-pointer.
"He's our leader," Sampson said of Harrison. "As he goes, we go."
"I give St. John's a lot of credit for being down 12 and being able to tough it out," Engles said.
Defensively, St. John's pressured the Highlanders, forcing NJIT to start their offense higher than they would normally like. The Red Storm also tied their season high in blocked shots with 12, set in the 77-74 win over Detroit on Nov. 13. The school record is 13 set against Army in a 67-54 win on Jan. 27, 1982.
Chris Obekpa was credited with five of the 12 blocked shots. The freshman center entered the game ranked third in the nation with 4.5 blocks per game. His monstrous two-handed dunk with 3:26 left increased St. John's lead to 52-49, which they would not relinquish.
"His attitude is selfless," Lavin said of Obekpa. "(He'd) rather play defense (and) block shots."
The dunk "energized the whole team, got us hyped," Sampson added.
The Highlanders led at halftime on the strength of 44.8 shooting from the field, including 60 percent from three. Woods made three-of-four three point attempts in the first half while Flores made two-of-four from three.
"They executed with precision (and) beat us to the punch in all aspects of the game in the first half," Lavin said. " If you let the top two guys dominate, they're going to win. They lit up the net and carved us up like french fries."
Woods and Flores were a combined 1-for-8 from three in the second half. St. John's limited NJIT to only 14 second half points, the fewest allowed by the Red Storm in any half since Feb. 6, 2008. The Johnnies held Rutgers to 14 points in the first half of that game.
"(It was a) tale of two halves," Lavin said. "We were solution-oriented. (I'm) pleased with their response."
—Copyright 2012 Associated Press
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posted by Denis P. Gorman at 6:44 PM
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