St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
(6-7)
Syracuse
(7-5)
Red Storm Rolls by Syracuse, 93-60
12/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The St. John's men's basketball team secured its third-straight win over Syracuse in commanding fashion on Wednesday night, dominating the Orange at the Carrier Dome by a score of 93-60.
The win marked the first time that St. John's (6-7) has won three in a row against the Orange (7-5) since 1993 and the lopsided affair was good enough for the second largest margin of victory over Syracuse for the Red Storm in the 104-year history of the series. The Red Storm was just two points shy of matching that number, as the Redmen secured a 95-60 win over Syracuse on Feb. 11, 1961, under the direction of Joe Lapchick.
Following 12-point wins for the Red Storm in 2014 and 2015, the Johnnies have now won three straight against Syracuse by double digits for the first time since 1962.
The 33-point loss marked the worst loss in program history for the Orange at the Carrier Dome.
Freshman sensation Shamorie Ponds proved outstanding once again for St. John's, registering a game-high 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds in addition to tying a career-high with four steals. The rookie from Brooklyn also surrendered no turnovers in 34 minutes.
Bashir Ahmed scored a career-high 20 points, 17 of which came in the second half, to aid the Red Storm, making seven of his 11 attempts from the floor. The junior from the Bronx also tallied five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
In just his second game back from injury, redshirt freshman Marcus LoVett dished out nine assists in 36 minutes of action while also scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds.
After a career-high 22 points on Sunday, Malik Ellison reach double figures in consecutive games for just the second time in his career, sinking three of his five attempts from downtown to finish with 16 points. The sophomore guard also grabbed six boards and dished out five assists while surrendering no turnovers.
Entering the game ranked second in the conference in blocks, Tariq Owens swatted four Syracuse shots and netted nine points against the Orange.
Kassoum Yakwe pulled down a season-high eight rebounds and poured in seven second-half points, while Richard Freudenberg put forth his best effort in a St. John's uniform with nine points.
As a team, St. John's recorded 27 assists on 34 made baskets, a season-high for helpers and the most by the squad in a single game since the Red Storm dished out 29 against Fordham in a 104-58 win on Dec. 7, 2013.
Elijah Holifield made both of his field goal attempts to remain perfect on the season, while freshman walk-on Justin Cole, a product of Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, made his St. John's debut.
After a slow offensive start for both teams over the opening few minutes, the Red Storm unleashed a 14-0 run to take a 26-14 lead with just over nine minutes to play in the opening half. The Johnnies shot lights-out from the floor and locked down on defense during the run, making five of their seven shots attempts over that stretch and holding the Orange without a point for 5:09. The Red Storm recorded 12 of those 14 points on three-point shots with Ponds and Freudenberg sinking two apiece. Freudenberg added the team's other two points on a long jumper.
The Red Storm extended its run to 21-4 overall on an Owens layup to move ahead 33-18 with 4:16 remaining until the intermission.
After a brief run from Syracuse to close the half, the Johnnies entered the locker room with a 10-point advantage, 39-29.
The Orange tallied the latter stanza's first four points to cut the lead to just six less than a minute into the action, but the Red Storm quickly responded with a 6-0 run to bump its lead back to 12, 49-37, forcing Syracuse to take its final timeout with 16:59 to play in the contest.
The two squads continued to trade buckets over the next few minutes before the Red Storm, leading by 11, 59-48, uncorked an 15-0 run to move ahead by 26, 74-48, just inside the eight-minute mark.
The Red Storm continued to pour it on the Orange down the stretch, moving ahead by as many as 37 before closing out the contest.
St. John's made 69 percent (20-for-29) of its shot attempts in the second half. On the game, the Red Storm shot 53.1 percent (34-for-64) from the field and 41.4 percent (12-for-29) from three-point range.
St. John's returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 29, opening BIG EAST action against No. 13/13 Butler inside Carnesecca Arena at 7 p.m.
