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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Reggie Jessie's right arm went down, and
SirValiant Brown crumpled to the floor.
|  | | George Washington's SirValiant Brown survived a low blow he called intentional and made St. John's pay with 32 points. |
Brown also accused Mohamed Diatike of trying to start a fight,
and George Washington said St. John's players were trash-talking as
the teams headed to the tunnel at halftime.
St. John's pleaded ignorance on all counts, except for one: The Red Storm (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today; No. 19 AP) got beat 85-75 Saturday in a very rough
basketball semifinal at the BB&T Classic.
"It was two city teams going head to head," George Washington
coach Tom Penders said. "Our team will not be intimidated. Our
kids react the right way to that kind of stuff."
Brown scored 32 points and Chris Monroe had 22 as the Colonials
(5-1) led from start to finish and outhustled the Red Storm (3-2),
who missed numerous layups and lost most of the battles for the
loose balls.
George Washington, the tournament's defending champion, will
play in Sunday's title game against No. 13 Maryland, which beat
Michigan 82-51 earlier Saturday.
The low moment came when Jessie struck Brown in the groin as the
teams were huddled near the free-throw line during a timeout with
10:55 to play. The blow was obvious and clear in a replay shown on
the arena scoreboard.
"He bumped me, so I said something to him," Brown said. "Next
thing I know, he punched me in my groin, and I was down. I was in
pain. It was intentional."
Brown was on the floor for about a minute, but he returned to
make three 3-pointers and a leaping interception of a fast-break
pass to help seal the victory down the stretch.
The officials reviewed the replay of Jessie's blow at courtside
and took no action. The same replay shown on the scoreboard was
apparently not available at courtside, and referee Steve Olson said
the angle that was available was "inconclusive."
St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said he didn't see the play.
Amazingly, Jessie said he didn't, either.
"I don't know what happened," Jessie said. "He was behind me.
I was trying to get my teammates hyped and he was on the floor, so
I don't know."
Told that Brown said the blow was intentional, Jarvis said: "So
what?"
By the time of the blow, the tone had already been set for a
brutally physical finish in which players hit the floor frequently
on hard fouls.
Shortly before Brown went down, he and freshman Diakite nearly
came to blows as they tumbled to the floor after Brown made a
layup.
"When I got him off me, he was throwing some punches," Brown
said.
Diakite was not available for comment because St. John's
freshman aren't not allowed to speak to reporters during their
first semester.
Also, Penders said the Red Storm players were trying to
intimidate his players by trash-talking as the teams walked off the
court. Again, Jarvis and Jessie said they knew nothing about it.
Omar Cook scored 21 points to lead St. John's.
Jarvis coached for eight seasons at George Washington and
brought the program national respect before leaving in 1998. Some
of his old recruits, plus some new ones signed by Penders, made the
homecoming unpleasant from the opening whistle.
"There is no one you want to beat more than your old coach,"
Jarvis said.
St. John's missed 9 of 11 3-pointers in the first half and
didn't shoot a free throw until 10:55 to play in the game. The Red
Storm had no answer for neither Brown and Monroe's speed nor
Patrick Ngongba's inside game.
Brown's 3-pointer made it 37-23 with 3:09 remaining in the first
half, and Ngongba's offensive rebound put George Washington up
43-32 at the break.
The Red Storm closed to eight several times in the second half.
Diakite's dunk closed the margin to 64-56 with 5:58 left, but the
Colonials answered with a 9-0 run that included 3-pointers by Brown
and Bernard Barrow.
Although Jarvis and his players didn't have much to say about
the physical play, forward Anthony Glover made perhaps a more sober
confession when he said the team had been looking past George
Washington to a possible matchup with Maryland.
"Our team wasn't ready to pay this game," Glover said.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
St Johns Clubhouse
George Washington Clubhouse
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