St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Makes Season Debut at The Garden Sunday
12/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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QUEENS, N.Y. - Making its 50th appearance in the MSG Holiday Festival, the St. John's men's basketball team will take center stage in Midtown Manhattan for the first time this season on Sunday when it hosts Penn State (6-5) at "The World's Most Famous Arena." The Johnnies tip off the doubleheader at 11 a.m. with the contest airing on FS1. Rutgers and Fordham are the second game of the annual event.
FOX Sports announcers Dave Sims and Ron Thompson will call the national telecast. The St. John's IMG Radio broadcast with John Minko and Brian Mahoney can be heard on 970 AM WNYM or through TuneIn Radio.
St. John's (5-6) goes for its fourth win in the last five games and looks to move back to .500 before heading to the Carrier Dome for its final non-conference contest on Wednesday against Syracuse. Well rested after a stretch of four games in 10 days, the Red Storm had a week to regroup from its most recent setback in the BROOKLYN HOOPS Winter Festival at Barclays Center. Suiting up only eight scholarship players, the short-handed Johnnies were edged with a late push in the final 90 seconds by an upstart LIU Brooklyn squad, which snapped the team's three-game win streak.
Now beginning its 87th season at Madison Square Garden where St. John's owns a 419-287 all-time record, the young and talented Johnnies are eager to return to playing the brand of basketball that had the team on the upswing earlier this month. Prior to the team's trip to Brooklyn, the Red Storm showcased its potential with balanced efforts on both ends of the floor during the winning streak. Over the three-game stretch, St. John's averaged 87.0 points and drained 41 threes while limiting opponents to 69.0 points per game. Arguably, the team's top performance came in the form of a 28-point rout of Fordham on Dec. 8 as the Johnnies dished out 24 assists on 32 made field goals and dominated the glass, 41-21.
This Sunday, St. John's has a couple local products making their collegiate debut in "The Big Apple" as the Red Storm faces its third Big Ten opponent of the season. Brooklyn's Shamorie Ponds returns to The Garden for the first-time since earning co-MVP honors in last year's PSAL Championship Game, leading Thomas Jefferson High School to its first league title since 1954 with 31 points, 12 rebounds, six steals and five assists. Also, Bronx native Bashir Ahmed, the team's third-leading scorer with 12.4 points per game, will step on the hardwood at MSG for the first time in a St. John's uniform.
Ponds, who was named the BIG EAST's Freshman of the Week on Monday, averaged 23.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists last week to help lift the Red Storm to a pair of home victories at Carnesecca Arena over Fordham and Cal State Northridge. The 6-foot-1 lefty guard leads the BIG EAST and all freshmen in Division I with 35 3-pointers, which has helped transform St. John's into one of the top outside shooting teams in the country this season averaging 10.5 triples per game.
Penn State enters the MSG Holiday Festival having won four of its last six games. Led by junior guard Shep Garner, who has a team-high 14.5 scoring average, the Nittany Lions are also looking to bounce back from a loss after falling to in-state rival Pitt, 81-73, on Dec. 10.
Sunday's contest marks the third meeting all-time between St. John's and Penn State. After a 102-year hiatus in the series, the programs recently squared off on Nov. 29, 2013 in an overtime thriller at Barclays Center where the Nittany Lions prevailed, 89-82.
After facing Syracuse on Wednesday, the Red Storm will have seven days until its BIG EAST opener on Dec. 29 versus Butler at Carnesecca Arena. All fans will receive a complimentary Red Storm whiteout t-shirt courtesy of Ridgewood Savings Bank.
