NCAA Game Summary - Duke at St. John’s

02.26.2005

New York, NY (Basketball News) - Lee Melchionni scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead seventh-ranked Duke over St. John’s, 58-47, at Madison Square Garden.

J.J. Redick scored 13 points despite struggling from the field as he went 2- of-11 and just 1-for-7 from three-point distance for the Blue Devils (21-4), who won their third straight. Daniel Ewing netted nine in the win, while Shelden Williams tallied only eight points before fouling out.

"Lee Melchionni had an incredible week for us," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He had his best game against Wake Forest, played well against Georgia Tech and was our best player today. It wasn’t just his points and rebounds. He played good defense and he played with an enthusiasm and smartness that really helped."

Lamont Hamilton led the way for St. John’s (9-16) with 15 points and Daryll Hill added 10 in the losing effort. The Red Storm have lost six of seven.

Trailing by as many as 13 in the early moments of the second half, the Red Storm cut their deficit to 38-33 at the 10:10 mark on a layup by Cedric Jackson.

Ewing answered on the ensuing Blue Devils’ possession with a trey to push the lead back to eight, but St. John’s continued to hang around and moments later trailed just 41-37, following four consecutive points by Hamilton.

The Red Storm were unable get any closer over the next five minutes and after Ewing buried a jumper at the 3:49 mark, they were down nine.

Trailing by seven with just over a minute to go, St. John’s had a chance to cut it to five, but Hamilton was whistled for an offensive foul on his lay-in chance. Redick was fouled on the next Duke possession and sank both attempts to seal the win.

"I told our guys before the game to enjoy every minute of it and have fun," St. John’s head coach Norm Roberts said of playing at Madison Square Garden. "Hopefully in the future it will be predominantly St. John’s and not the other school’s fans."

Trailing 11-7, Duke closed the first half with a 21-6 run as they carried a 28-17 lead into the break. Melchionni paced the Blue Devils with 14 first- half points.

This was Duke’s first game without guard Sean Dockery. He injured his knee against Georgia Tech this week and is out indefinitely. Duke improved to 2-0 this season at Madison Square Garden and 9-5 in the all-time series against St. John’s...The Blue Devils struggled from the field, going 16-of-49 (33 percent) and connected on 6-of-22 from beyond the arc...The Red Storm didn’t fare much better, shooting a dismal 0-of-4 from three-point distance and just 34 percent from the floor...Duke’s 58 points was its lowest output of the season.

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