ANCHORAGE, AK. - Sparked by a 23-0 run to end the first half, St. John's
rolled to a 82-39 victory over Drake in the semifinals of the Carrs/Safeway
Great Alaska Shootout on Friday (Nov. 26).
The Red Storm improved their ledger to 3-1 and in the
process moved into the title game of the tournament, while the Bulldogs saw
their slate evened at 2-2 and will face Weber
State on Saturday (Nov. 27) at 8:30 p.m. CT.
"This will be a learning experience for our team," Drake head
coach Mark Phelps
commented. "We have to get back up
after a game like this with a bunch of young guys. When a team doesn't execute on offense and doesn't hit shots
you have no choice but to give credit to the defense."
St. John's jumped to an 11-7 advantage at the first media
timeout despite four points from freshman Rayvonte Rice (Champaign, Ill./Centennial).
Sophomore Ben Simons (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac) cut the deficit to one,
11-10, on a three pointer at the 14:38 mark before the Red Storm parlayed a 7-0
run to lead 18-10.
The two sides exchanged baskets before a jumper by sophomore
Seth VanDeest
(Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) with 10:15 remaining cut the deficit to 22-17.
St. John's exerted its muscle from that point on closing the
half on a 23-0 run to enter the intermission up 45-17. Drake missed its final 10 shots
of the initial stanza to finish the first 20 minutes shooting just 25 percent
(6-for-24), while the Red Storm connected on 15 of their 22 shots to register a
68.2 percent shooting mark.
Senior Ryan Wedel (Minneapolis, Kan./Minneapolis) and Rice paced the Bulldogs
with six first-half points apiece.
The shooting struggles continued to start the second half as
it wasn't until a jumper by sophomore Aaron Hawley (Rogers, Ark./Rogers) with 16:58
that ended a 13:18 scoreless draught.
The lead grew to as many as 43 points before St. John's
posted the victory.
Hawley and Rice led the Bulldogs with 10 points apiece,
while Wedel added six points.
Justin Brownlee paced the Red Storm with 13 points.
Drake connected on 26.5 percent of its attempts from the
field as compared to a 57.7 shooting mark for the Red Storm. St. John's won the rebound battle,
38-24, including 27-12 on the defensive glass.
