Hofstra-St. John's in-game blog

I join you for a live blog of the Hofstra-St. John's men's basketball game in the annual Holiday Festival a little late due to some technical difficulties here at Madison Square Garden. Hofstra has battled back from a 24-15 deficit and is now down 32-29 with 3:02 left and a timeout on the floor. A small crowd here in "the World's Most Famous Arena" probably due to the snow and the New York Jets having a big game against the Atlanta Falcons going on at the same time. However there are some vocal Hofstra fans in the crowd.  Let's pick things up from here and I will try and give you the important details of the game as well as the overall atmosphere inside MSG.

First half
1:07- Greg Washington rattles home a medium range jumper. 37-36 St. John's.

0.0 Chaz Williams was unsuccessful with an acrobatic shot while driving to the hoop that would have given Hofstra its first lead of the half. Instead the Pride can take solace that it heads into the locker room down 37-36 after trailing by as many as nine. Stay tuned for the second half, which will hopefully be free of technical issues.

Second half

19:09- Goaltending called on a Chaz Williams shot. Hofstra with its first lead of the game 38-37

17:53- Williams shows why he is a one man fast break and goes coast to coast for the bucket. 40-37 and timeout called by St. John's coach Norm Roberts. Hofstra enters this match up having won four in a row against St. John's but the teams have not met in three years. The winner of this game will face Cornell tomorrow night, as the Big Red defeated Davidson on a three pointer at the buzzer 91-88 in overtime earlier today.

17:17 Nathaniel Lester goes off glass off an inbounds pass. 42-37 Hofstra

16:48- Lester is hot as he hits jumper from corner to give Hofstra a 44-37 lead and force Norm Roberts to burn another timeout
15:32- Greg Washington had a good chance for an inside bucket but was called for traveling. Media timeout with Hofstra leading 44-38

13:56- Dwight Hardy hits floater. St. John’s with seven straight to tie the game 44-44

13:03- Jenkins with long range jumper. 47-44 Hofstra

12:10- Williams is once a gain a one man fast break and hits tough floater to make it 49-44 Pride

11:12- Justin Browlee finished a two on one break and draws a foul to cut the Hofstra lead to 49-48. Media timeout. It looks like this has the making of a close game that could come down to who makes their foul shots.

9:56- Halil Kanacevic with put back. Hofstsra leads 51-49

9:16- Miklos Szabo hits jumper. 53-52 Hofstra

8:39- Williams dishes to Washington fast break and draws a foul to get himself to the free throw line. Knocks down 1 of 2 to give Hofstra 54-53 lead

7:50- Jenkins goes strong to basket and gives Hofstra a 56-53 lead

7:10- Timeout on the floor with Hofstra leading 56-53. Hofstra leading despite being out-rebounded 42-34. Jenkins with Hofstra with 20 points. Williams is also having a solid game with 14.

6:44- Jenkins drains three to make it 59-54  Hofstra. Coach Roberts calls timeout

5:52- D.J. Kennedy blows by Washington to cut Hofstra's lead to 59-56

4:14- Dwight Hardy makes one of two free throws. 59-57 Hofstra

3:19- Malik Boothe rattles home a shot that hung around the rim for it seemed like eternity to knot the game at 59-59. Timeout on the floor. Hofstra has not converted on its last few processions. Each procession will be critical as we head toward the home stretch of this game.

3:00- Boothe continues to be a thorn in Hofstra's side forcing a steal and going in for the bucket and drawing the foul. He missed the free throw. 61-59 St. John's

2:32- Jenkins has three point-attempt blocked and D.J. Kennedy is able to draw foul at the other end. Makes both free throws to give Red Storm a 63-59 lead

2:10- Hofstra once again comes away empty at the offensive end and is in serious trouble. St. John's just used its final timeout on the rebound. Red Storm on 9-0 run

1:35- Kennedy hits another big shot and Hofstra now trails 65-59. St. John's can sense that their four game losing streak to Hofstra is about to come to an end.

1:11- Jenkins makes one of two free throws to end scoring drought. Timeout Hofstra trailing 67-60. The Red Storm are going to need to miss some free throws for Hofstra to pull this one off. Red Storm went on 13-0 run after trailing 54-50 to seize control of this game.

56.9- Jenkins stuffed twice going into the lane. St. John's appears to have this one in hand.

0.0- Final score St. John's 72 Hofstra 60. Red Storm ends game on 18-1 run. Tough one to swallow for the Pride who missed a chance at a signature win before Colonial Athletic Association play begins. The Pride will now face Davidson tomorrow at 7 p.m. in the third place game of the MSG Holiday Festival. Davidson is coached by Hofstra alum Bob McKillop, who gave Tom Pecora his first coaching job 25 years ago at Long Island Lutheran so it should make for an interesting reunion.