April 3, 2003

Men's Basketball

St. John's - 70 Georgetown - 67

Six years ago today, St. John's won its sixth National Invitation Tournament beating Big East foe Georgetown 70-67 at Madison Square Garden.

Senior Marcus Hatten was named MVP, scoring a team-high 22 points, including five three pointers. "I feel like I'm celebrating for the second time," Hatten said. "When we were in the hotel before the game, I had flashes of cutting down the net.  I'm happy we won a championship.  It's everything that I could imagine."

The Red Storm (21-13) trailed 38-34 at the half despite shooting a dreadful 29 percent from the floor. The Johnnies overcame their poor shooting with strong rebounding against the bigger Hoyas. St. John's outrebounded Georgetown 43-34, including twenty off the offensive glass.

St. John's started the second half on a 9-0 run, grabbing a 43-38 lead, thanks to three baskets by Hatten. Georgetown regained the lead 44-43, but Hatten answered with a three-pointer with 13 minutes remaining. St. John's would hold the edge until a jumper by guard Tony Bethel tied the game at 67 with 1:25 left in the game. 

Hatten hit one of two free throws to make it 68-67 with 1:13 remaining. After empty trips by both teams, Georgetown called timeout with 10 seconds left. Guard Gerald Riley misfired on a three-pointer and junior Grady Reynolds grabbed his 14th rebound with four seconds to go. "Gerald is somebody that I wanted to take the shot," Georgetown coach Craig Esherick said.  "I'll definitely live with that shot."

After a timeout, freshman Elijah Ingram was fouled and calmly sank two free throws to make it 70-67. Bethel missed a desperation heave as time expired.

Ingram finished with 19 points, while Reynolds added 13. Center Mike Sweetney led the Hoyas (19-15) with a game-high 25 points.

The championship would be vacated in 2006 due to NCAA violations committed under the watchful eye of head coach Mike Jarvis, which included payments made to center Abe Keita. 

St. John's-Georgetown Boxscore