St. John’s Outlasts Bowling Green, 84-80

Friday, November 9

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

6:30 p.m.

St. John's University

2-0

Bowling Green

1-1

Bowling Green

St. John's

11/9/2018 10:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Mustapha Heron posts 26 points in the Red Storm victory

Trailing by as many as 11 early in the second half, the St. John's men's basketball team battled back and downed Bowling Green, 84-80, at Carnesecca Arena on Friday night to improve to 2-0 on the young season.

Entering the season as part of one of the nation's most highly touted back courts, it took Mustapha Heron and Shamorie Ponds just two tries to both break the 20-point plateau in the same game. In his second outing since transferring from Auburn, Heron tallied a game-high 26 points on 8-of-16 shooting and grabbed a team-high six boards. The effort marked Heron's highest point total since pouring in 28 against Arkansas on February 27.

After scoring just five points in the first half, Ponds exploded for 16 in the latter stanza, finishing with 21 points, three assists and a pair of steals in 32 minutes. The Brooklyn native and BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year bested the 20-point mark for the second time in as many games this season after shooting 8-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-4 from downtown.

Two other Johnnies finished the game in double figures, as Marvin Clark II scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half and pulled down five rebounds. LJ Figueroa reached double figures for the first time as a member of the Red Storm, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Justin Simon narrowly missed making it five in double digits, posting nine points, six assists and three steals in 36 minutes.

St. John's found it hard to make Bowling Green miss on Friday night, as the Falcons shot 50 percent from the floor and 47.8 percent (11-of-23) from long range on the game. The Johnnies made up for it by forcing 20 turnovers and converting those into 26 points. On the other side of the coin, the Red Storm surrendered just eight turnovers on the game.

The Johnnies have now started each of the past five seasons with at least two-straight wins and have emerged victorious in each of their first two games on campus dating back to the 2005-06 campaign.

After missing their first attempt from deep 90 seconds into the game, the Johnnies found it hard to miss over the next few minutes. The Red Storm sank four of its first five tries from beyond the arc before a Figueroa layup in transition made it 16-7 St. John's less than five minutes into the action.

Following their hot start, the Johnnies cooled off near the midway mark of the stanza. After starting 7-of-10 from the floor overall and 4-of-6 from three-point range, the Red storm missed its next six attempts from deep and went three for its next 15 from the field overall, allowing the Falcons to climb within one, 26-25, with six minutes remaining.

St. John's appeared to stop the bleeding with a Clark layup, but Bowling Green continued to convert from downtown. The Falcons made four-straight shots, three of which came from beyond the arc, to take their first lead in nearly 15 minutes, 35-33, with just under four minutes to go in the period.

The Red Storm fell behind by as many as five in the waning minutes of the first half, but Heron sank a late triple to bring the Johnnies within two, 39-37, heading into the break. Bowling Green shot 7-of-13 (53.8%) from three and 15-of-29 (51.7%) from the floor overall in the first half.

The Falcons' hot shooting persisted into the early minutes of the second half, as Bowling Green jumped ahead by as many as 11, 51-40, with 16:24 to go. Facing their largest deficit of the game, the Johnnies promptly responded with a 9-0 run, cutting the Bowling Green advantage to a pair following a Clark baseline drive with 14:28 to play.

After falling again by as many as seven over the next few minutes, the Johnnies turned on the jets and retook the lead. Trailing by four, 58-54, just inside the midway mark of the half, the Johnnies uncorked a 6-0 spurt, moving within one on a Ponds three before jumping ahead on a three-point play from Figueroa off a steal. The Red Storm would not trail again.

St. John's went up by as many as nine down the stretch following five-straight points from Ponds to put the team ahead 78-69 with 2:39 to go. Bowling Green would not go down quietly, pulling back within one with 10 ticks on the clock, but Heron sealed the contest with a trio of free throws in the closing second.

The Red Storm will return to action on Friday night, Nov. 16, traveling to Piscataway for a showdown with Rutgers in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. The contest, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, will be broadcast on BTN and 970 AM WNYM.