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JAMAICA, New York (Ticker) -- Anthony Glover scored 16 points and Marcus Hatten added 15 as St. John's advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament with a 79-71 victory over Alabama-Birmingham.
Playing in their final game at Alumni Hall, the senior duo led St. John's to its first trip to the NIT semifinals since 1989. Glover made 7-of-10 shots and Hatten finished 5-of-12 from the floor as the Red Storm shot 43 percent (26-of-61).
"It just showed how much we have grown," Red Storm coach Mike Jarvis said. "We can win games when Marcus doesn't have a good game."
St. John's will face Texas Tech in Tuesday's semifinals at Madison Square Garden, where its plays a majority of its home games.
Overall four players reached double figures for St. John's (19-13), which has won seven of its last eight games after a four-game losing streak in February cost them a chance for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Playing in their third straight home game, the Red Storm never trailed after Willie Shaw's basket gave them a 14-13 lead with 11:41 remaining in the first half. They took a 34-32 advantage into the locker room.
UAB, which was denied a chance to reach the semifinals for the third time, was facing St. John's for the first time since losing to them in the 1989 semifinals.
"The size factor and attacking the glass was the difference," said UAB coach Mike Anderson, whose team was outrebounded 51-26. "I thought it was a learning experience for our guys."
Morris Finley led the Blazers (21-13) with 25 points and Eric Bush added 23. The duo combined to shoot 18-of-36 as UAB clicked at 45 percent (27-of-60) overall.
UAB used its pressing defense to open up a 11-6 lead lead early on after a 3-pointer by Bush. But St. John's went on a 23-7 run and opened a 29-18 lead with 7:40 remaining.
The Blazers got close again with seven straight points to get within 29-25 and later got within 53-52 following a basket by Bush at the 8:51 mark.
Led by Glover and Hatten, the Red Storm went on a 20-10 run to extend their lead to 73-62 with just over a minute left to clinch the win.
Alabama native Grady Reynolds finished with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his first career double-double and Kyle Cuffe collected 10 points and nine rebounds for St. John's, which has won the NIT a record five times.
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