Going into the fourth quarter, St. John’s trailed 42-41 and was within striking distance. DeMatha managed to pull away when senior guard Terrell Allen scored seven straight points to lead the Stags to a 67-58 win.
The Stags (17-1, 9-0 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference) have shown that they play their best basketball in the second half and it showed during Friday night’s.
In the first half, DeMatha was having a hard time getting anything going offensively. St. John’s (14-4, 7-3 WCAC) was playing tough defense, which threw DeMatha off it’s game plan.
The Stags turned it around in the second half especially in the fourth quarter. The Stags scored 25 points in the fourth, and made some clutch baskets towards the end.
“Some of the things we wanted to do and planned to do, we didn’t do in the first half,” DeMatha Head Coach Mike Jones said. “We just reemphasized those things at halftime.”
St. John’s played very tough against DeMatha, who has been one of the top teams in the area since the Morgan Wootten era.
“St. John’s is a tough team. I think everyone looks at them like, awe man they lost five Division I players last year,” Jones said. “People forget that the guys they have are pretty good.”
DeMatha was led by junior Markelle Fultz, who finished the game with 15 points after having a hard time scoring early in the game. Allen (Drexel) tallied 13 points, and was a difference maker in the fourth quarter.
St. John’s junior Jeff Dowtin finished with a team high 22 points. Point guard Anthony Cowan Jr., who leads the conference in scoring, had another solid outing as he scored 20 points.
“He is very good and he is crafty,” Jones said. “He is one of those guards that can make three’s, shots pull ups off the pick and rolls. He can get to the basket, my contact, and finish.”
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