November 25, 1998
NEW YORK (AP) -
In the end, Stanford coach Mike Montgomery turned out to beright.
Montgomery warned the No. 3 Cardinal that its superior size wouldn'tnecessarily scare off No. 23 St. John's. Stanford needed a comeback in the lastsix minutes to shake off the stubborn Red Storm 55-53 in the semifinals of thePreseason NIT Wednesday night.
Arthur Lee cooly dropped in a pair of free throws with 11.8 seconds left forthe winning points and then had to be helped off the court, doubled over inpain, as Stanford (4-0) survived the scare.
"It was sort of what we expected from St. John's." Montgomery said."They're good players. They gave us a different look and came after ourperimeter."
Stanford trailed by 10 points, 48-38 with 6:07 left before the Cardinal,responding to cue cards held up on the bench, went on a 14-3 run to take a52-51 lead with 1:41 to play. Lee and Peter Sauer both nailed big 3-pointers inthe run.
"We played better defense late and we shot better late," Montgomery said."That's why we won, even though it was late."
St. John's freshman guard Erick Barkley missed a long 3-pointer and thenthrew the ball away on consecutive possessions. Then, with 38.6 seconds left,Barkley, trying for a steal, collided with Sauer and was knocked unconscious.He lay on the floor for several minutes before being helped first to the benchand then to the dressing room.
"Erick is doing fine," St. John's coach Mike Jarvis said. "He got a shotto the temple when he ran into a good and legal screen."
After Kris Weems made one of two free throws for a 53-51 lead, Ron Artesttied it for St. John's with 14.9 seconds left.
Artest, who had a chance for a three-point play, missed the foul shot.Stanford controlled the rebound, but Artest broke up a pass to Lee and in doingso, crashed into him as the two players chased the loose ball.
The Stanford guard was stunned for a moment but then went to the foul lineand dropped in the winning free throws for the Cardinal.
Then, after St. John's (3-1) missed a last chance to tie, Lee doubled over,holding his right side and had to be helped into the locker room.
"Lee got a hip pointer before the fouls," Montgomery said. "He hitsomething hard. He'll be OK."
Stanford's size was key. The Cardinal outrebounded St. John's 41-28. Still,St. John's came away encouraged. "We proved we could play with a big frontline," Artest said.
Mark Madsen led Stanford with 15 points while Tim Young and Lee each had 10.Artest led St. John's with 15.
By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer