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Gonzaga D.C. Classic Final: Gonzaga 62, St. John’s 42

Posted On: Sunday, December 14, 2008
By:
Gonzaga D.C. Classic Final: Gonzaga 62, St. John’s 42

By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Manager, Washington D.C. Metro Area

*CLICK HERE for 107 photos from the final.

*CLICK HERE for 60 video highlights.

For the oldest school in the Federal City of Washington — an area amongst the richest nationally in prep basketball talent — any “all-time” talk is sure to raise eyebrows.

But with this class of Purple Eagles — and those recently preceding it — the comments are almost expected.

Gonzaga became the first team to win three-straight D.C. Classic titles with a 62-42 victory over St. John’s in the tournament final at Bender Arena at American University on Sunday.

“This means we’re going to go down as one of the better teams in Gonzaga’s history,” said Eagle junior guard Cedrick Lindsay, the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “It speaks for itself.”

Added fifth-year Gonzaga coach Steve Turner: “This is the first time any team has three-peated this tournament and we’re excited about that. Our staff does a great job every year of bringing in a good field. The third time in a row is crazy.”

Almost as unbelievable is the Purple Eagles’ effortless ability to distribute the ball offensively.

Gonzaga had at least three players reach double-digit scoring in every game of the tournament.

That includes four players in Sunday’s tournament final: Lindsay (game-high 19 points), senior Ian Hummer (13 points), and juniors Tyler Thornton (17 points) and Malcolm Lemmons (10 points).

“Our motive has always been to share the ball,” said Turner, whose Eagles have won the D.C. classic a record eight times. “We not a team, every night, to have a guy scoring in the 20’s.

“We can have four guys scoring in double digits and feel like we’ve got a pretty good chance to beat anybody that we line up against.”

Even amongst teammates — and competition — that balanced and skilled, Tournament MVP Lindsay stood out.

He followed up his 23-point performance in Gonzaga’s 82-54, semifinal win over Bullis (Potomac, Md.) on Saturday with a game-high 19 points in Sunday’s finale.

When asked what it means to have his name etched in the history books alongside tournament alumni such as NBA stars Chris Paul, Juan Dixon, Roy Hibbert and Ron Artest, Lindsay expressed humility.

“It means I played well in this tournament,” he said, failing to hold back a smile. “It’s no comparison to those guys — those guys are great players. There’s no comparison.”

But, for the Purple Eagles, a three-game tear through the 20th Annual D.C. Classic could not have come at a better time.

Gonzaga fell to league-rival O’Connell, 65-60, on December 9, only its second loss since the WCAC championship game two years ago.

And with the elite Junior Orange Bowl tournament in Miami, Fl., less than two weeks away and a torrential league schedule thereafter, the Purple Eagles had to learn recuperate almost overnight.

“This is a good game — a good tournament — to get back on track,” said Thornton, committed to Duke. “We played a league opponent and we really needed this win.”

Added Turner, whose team had two 17-game winning streaks last season in its 34-1 campaign: “Anytime you take a loss, as a group you have the opportunity to get back in the gym and re-focus. If you’re going to lose, you better lose early.

“I feel like, this year in our league, every one is going to get knocked off at some point in time, especially if you’re in the top half.”

E-mail: pmurphy@digitalsports.com

St. John’s  (3-2)   12  11   7   12  —  42
Gonzaga  (5-1)     11  15  15  21  —  62

St. John’s: DeBose 4 0-0 8; Martin 4 0-0 8; Powell 2 3-4 7; Snyder 2 1-2 6; Thomas 2 0-0 5; McNeill 2 0-0 4; Pope 0 2-2 2; Primus-Devonish 0 2-2 2; Bates
0 0-1 0. Team totals:
16 8-10 42. Gonzaga: Lindsay 5 6-8 17; Thornton 6 4-5 16; Hummer 5 3-6 13; Lemmons 3 4-5 10; Saffron 1 0-0 2; Wolk 1 0-0 2; Thomas 0 2-2 2. Team totals: 21 19-26 62. Three pointers: St. John’s 2 (Snyder, Thomas); Gonzaga 1 (Lindsay).

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