Sports

St. John’s falls to Murray State in Charleston Classic semis

CHARLESTON — All that stood between St. John’s and a chance to play for the Charleston Classic was a three-point deficit and 36.9 seconds remaining. Plenty of opportunity.

Call it opportunity lost.

The Red Storm got off three 3-point shots but couldn’t convert any and droppeda 72-67 decision to Murray State last night in TD Arena.

The Racers beat the Red Storm from behind the arc. They hit 10-of-30 3s. The Johnnies were just 2-of-11.

D’Angelo Harrison, who had a game-high and season-high 27, missed a 3 from the wing. JaKarr Sampson, who had 14, missed a 3 from the corner. The Johnnies had one last chance. Harrison tried to draw contact on a 3 from the corner with about 10 seconds left.

The shot didn’t fall, he didn’t get the call, and St. John’s (2-1) suffered its first loss of the season. The Johnnies will play No.16 Baylor on Sunday in the consolation game. Murray State (3-0) faces Colorado for the championship. The Racers got 23 from Stacy Wilson.

The Johnnies were protecting a 46-42 lead when Harrison went to work. He converted back-to-back three-point plays to help St. John’s push its lead to 55-47 midway through the second half.

Lavin was clearly thrilled to be back on the bench. At the TV timeout with 7:55 left, he spent a good portion of the time talking to freshman Christian Jones who had committed a turnover when the Red Storm had a chance to pad their lead.

Lavin said after Thursday night’s win that one of the subtle challenges for his team was the fact that Murray State knows it’s a winning program. The Johnnies are building that swagger.

“That dynamic is being played out all over the country,” said Lavin. “At this point, the focus is more on us than the opposition. It’s probably about 85-15. We’re not as concerned with what the opposition is doing. We’re focused on what we want to do.”

That focus got short circuited with less than seven minutes remaining. With the Johnnies leading 59-54, Harrison thought he got bowled over by Murray’s Ed Daniel, whose Afro should be in the college basketball Hall of Fame. Harrison started jawing with ref Teddy Valentine as the shot clock wound down.

He missed a short pull-up jumper and Stacy Wilson answered with a 3. Dexter Fields stole the inbounds pass and converted. The game was tied 59-59 and Lavin was asking for time.

It didn’t stop the bleeding. St. John’s continued to hurry its shot while Murray attacked. The Racers lead grew to 64-59. Lavin used another timeout and this one worked a little. Harrison converted another three-point play to get the Johnnies back to 64-62 with 3:39 left.

Wilson drained another 3 putting the Johnnies in a 67-62 hole wit 2:50 to go. Amir Garrett converted two free throws but Fields nailed a 3 that was answered by Harrison’s trey from the corner. There was 1:31 left and a spot in the title game was still in the balance with Murray holding a 70-67 lead.

Murray State, despite trailing 35-32 at the half, came out confident with good reason. This team has won two NCAA Tournament games in the last three seasons. St. John’s hasn’t won any.

The Johnnies came out strong, opening a 13-4 lead on the sharp shooting of Harrison, who had seven. When the Racers cut it to 15-12, Felix Balamou, who played with Obekpa in high school and some thought got a scholarship only to lure the shot blocker from Nigeria, proved his value.

He scored six straight points to push lead back to 21-12. Everything started clicking for the Johnnies. They pushed the lead to 29-16 and seemed to be in control. But the Racers, a team that is accustomed to winning, blitzed St. John’s with an 11-3 run to close within 34-30.

St. John’s took a 35-32 lead at the break but it should have been more. They outscored the Racers 14-6 in the paint and got 11 points off the bench. But Murray State made it up from behind the arc, hitting 5-of-8 to the Red Storm’s 1-of-6.