St. John’s 64

LIU 46

Before any St. John’s fans pick up the phone and start dialing, or log to the computer and start blogging, or lift a pen and actually write a letter, complaining that this is not glowing report about the team’s 64-46 win over LIU, remember that St. John’s is a member of the best basketball conference in the country and LIU is a member of the Northeast Conference, land of the one-spot NCAA Tournament berth.

With that in mind, can any Red Storm fan out there really be content with an 18-point win over the Blackbirds when the home team got outrebounded 49-39 and LIU outscored St. John’s, 19-10 on second-chance points?

Can any Red Storm fan is desperate for a trip to the Big East Conference Tournament feel optimistic after the Red Storm allowed LIU to slice a 20-point deficit in half and was in the game at 52-42 with 4:12 left?

The most glaring shortcoming of the Red Storm (3-3) has been the play of its inside men, seniors Lamont Hamilton and Aaron Spears and sophomore Tomas Jasiulionis. The trio combined for just 11 points and four rebounds against the undersized Blackbirds (2-3).

“We wanted to win the lane and I thought we did a good job of that,” said LIU coach Jim Ferry.

In an attempt to get Spears going, coach Norm Roberts brought the 6-10, 245-pound senior off the bench for only the third time in his St. Johns career. Spears scored zero points, grabbed zero rebounds and was limited to just seven minutes because of foul trouble.

Hamilton got eight points and three boards in 23 minutes and Jasiulionis added three points and one board in 18 minutes.

Roberts said that big men hate playing smaller, quicker teams, which is true, but Hamilton and Spears combined for just 11 points and 13 boards against Maryland and 15 points and 15 boards against Texas.

“Big A and Monty, they’re really struggling right now,” acknowledged shooting guard Ricky Torres, who scored 10 points off the bench.