By Marc Raimondi
But 13 seconds into the second half, junior Avery Patterson let Providence sophomore and Fresh Meadows native Weyinmi Efejuku blow right by him and pass to senior Herbert Hill for a layup and foul.Roberts had seen enough. He pulled Patterson and didn't put him back in for the rest of the game. Even with St. John's down three with less than a minute left, the team's best three-point shooter stuck on the bench in the Red Storm's 71-66 loss to Providence Saturday afternoon at the Dunkin Donuts Center.Patterson, the team's second-leading scorer, ripped off his headband after he was pulled and threw it under his chair. That was probably a major reason why he didn't leave said chair. “I was just frustrated with the way he was guarding,” Roberts said. “He was probably just frustrated with the way he was playing.” Providence kept St. John's at arm's length throughout the second half – the closest the Johnnies got was after a Qa'rraan Calhoun (14 points) tip-in with 34 seconds left in the game. Down by only 66-63, Roberts still declined to put Patterson, the team's best three-point shooter, back on the floor. Instead the Red Storm went with a combination of freshman Larry Wright and oft-used sophomore Ricky Torres.”It was my coach's decision,” the JUCO transfer said. “I was mad at myself because I knew I wasn't playing as hard as I could.” It was a frustrating outcome for St. John's (15-12, 6-8 Big East), which played Providence (16-9, 6-6) even in almost every statistical category except for rebounds. The Friars outrebounded the Johnnies, 39-24, overall and 15-8 on offensive boards. The size of McDermott (6-foot-7, 240 pounds), Hill (6-foot-10, 240) and sophomore Jonathan Kale (6-foot-8, 250) was just too much inside.”Rebounding,” St. John's sophomore Anthony Mason Jr. said about the difference in the game. “That's about it.”
