Hoyas Erase Any Doubts, 92-80 : Ewing Has Foul Trouble, but St. John’s Falls in Big East

NEW YORK —  Top-ranked Georgetown, despite getting only 18 minutes of playing time from All-America center Patrick Ewing because of foul trouble, defeated second-ranked St. John’s, 92-80, Saturday night to win the Big East Conference tournament title for the fourth time in six years.

The defending NCAA champion Hoyas (30-2) will carry a 12-game winning streak into the NCAA playoffs next week. The Redmen (27-3), regular-season Big East winners, were beaten for the second time by the Hoyas in 10 days.

The game was marred by five technical fouls, two each against the head coaches, John Thompson of Georgetown and Lou Carnesecca of St. John’s--all in the first half.

With 7:16 remaining in the second half, reserve Ron Rowan of St. John’s and Reggie Williams of Georgetown were ejected for scuffling.

Michael Jackson led five Georgetown players in double figures with 19 points, followed by Bill Martin with 18 and David Wingate with 17.

Georgetown never trailed, leading, 47-40, at halftime, and by as much as 14 points in the second half when the Hoyas built their lead to 78-64 on Martin’s three-point play with 8:03 remaining. The closest St. John’s could get after that was 84-76 on Chris Mullin’s field goal and two free throws with 2:40 left.

Ralph Dalton, Ewing’s 6-foot-11 backup center, played effectively in the All-America’s absence, scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds.