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St. John's upends Hoyas, stays unbeaten in Big East

Jan 4, 2011 - 4:00 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Justin Brownlee's tip-in with 10 seconds remaining lifted the St. John's Red Storm over the 13th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas, 61-58, in a Big East battle at Madison Square Garden.

Brownlee finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Red Storm (10-3, 3-0 Big East), who have won five in a row. Dwight Hardy scored a team-high 20 points.

"I was just really pleased and proud of our players' performance in terms of finding a way to get a W," St. John's head coach Steve Lavin said. "It was kind of an uneven game in terms of lacking offensive fluidity or rhythm. But so often a game at this level, with well-prepared teams, is going to come down to finding a way, really willpower. So I just commend our seniors for once again leading the way."

Hollis Thompson had 16 points and seven boards for the Hoyas (12-3, 1-2), who have lost two of three. Julian Vaughn tallied eight points and five rebounds.

Trailing by one, 51-50, Hardy made a runner in the lane to put St. John's ahead with 3:14 left. Austin Freeman then missed three-pointer at the other end, and Vaughn was called for a foul on the rebound.

Justin Burrell capitalized with two foul shots to give the Red Storm a 54-51 lead with 2:36 remaining.

Jason Clark's three-point play with 55.1 seconds to go put Georgetown ahead by one, 56-55. Hardy responded with a reverse layup at the opposite end to put St. John's back in front.

Freeman missed a jumper for the Hoyas, but Clark grabbed a key offensive rebound and was fouled. He made two free throws to give the visitors a 58-57 edge with 23 ticks left.

Following a timeout, Hardy dribbled to the left and missed a layup high off the glass. Brownlee, though, was in the right place for an easy tip-in and a 59-58 lead with 10 seconds to play.

Brownlee then blocked Freeman's jumper at the other end. Georgetown caught the ball out of bounds, and Hardy made two free throws with 2.8 ticks remaining to make it a 61-58 contest.

Chris Wright's half-court heave was off the mark as time expired, giving St. John's its best Big East start since 1999-2000, when it won the first four conference games.

Trailing by four, 21-17, with over 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half, the Red Storm put together a 15-2 run. D.J. Kennedy tallied all seven of his points during the stretch, which Hardy capped with two free throws for a 32-23 lead.

Wright's three-pointer before the half cut Georgetown's deficit to 32-26.

The Hoyas started the second half on a 9-3 flurry to even the score. Thompson's layup made it 35-35 with under 16 1/2 minutes to play.

Game Notes

Georgetown beat St. John's by a 66-59 final last season, but the Red Storm own a 53-41 lead in the all-time series. The Hoyas have still won six of the last nine meetings...Freeman was limited to six points...The Hoyas came into the game as the Big East's best three-point shooting team but were just 4- of-17...The win marks the first St. John's victory against a ranked opponent since defeating Notre Dame exactly two years ago on January 3, 2009.