St. John’s Tops Butler, 77-73, in Overtime

Tuesday, February 12

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

8:30 p.m.

St. John's University

18-7, 6-6BE

Butler

14-11, 5-7BE

OT 1

Butler

St. John's

2/12/2019 11:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm moves back to .500 in BIG EAST play with a win over the Bulldogs

After withstanding a furious Butler comeback on a number of occasions down the stretch, the St. John's men's basketball team fell behind for the first time with 17 seconds to play in regulation. The veteran Johnnies then sent the game into overtime before outlasting the Bulldogs, 77-73, on Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena.

With his team trailing by one, 66-65, after a Paul Jorgensen bucket, Shamorie Ponds drove and drew the foul, earning two tries from the line with just four ticks left on the clock. He sank the first to tie the contest before missing the second, sending the game into overtime.

The Red Storm fell behind on the Bulldogs' first possession of the extra period thanks to a Nate Fowler layup, but rattled off a 9-2 run to move ahead by a five on a Justin Simon layup that followed a spectacular steal from LJ Figueroa. Butler would cut the deficit to a pair in the final minute, but clutch free throws from Mustapha Heron sealed the victory for the Johnnies and helped the Red Storm improve to 3-0 in overtime games this season.

Heron willed the Johnnies (18-7, 6-6 BIG EAST) to victory on Tuesday night, scoring a season-high 28 points on 8-of-15 shooting. The junior guard from Waterbury, Conn., made 10 of his 12 free throw attempts on the night, including all six of his tries in overtime. He also grabbed four boards, dished out two assists and recorded a pair of steals.

Marvin Clark II snapped a scoring drought of sorts, exploding for 18 points. The redshirt senior drained four triples after failing to convert from deep in his last two outings. The Michigan State transfer now sits just two points shy of reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career.

Shamorie Ponds tallied 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals on the evening. His effort marked the first time since Dec. 29 at Seton Hall that Ponds failed to reach the 20-point mark in a BIG EAST outing.

Figueroa finished with seven points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals, the last of which helped clinch the victory in overtime. Simon also stuffed the stat sheet, registering eight points, seven rebounds and a pair of thefts.

With the win, the Johnnies moved into sole possession of third place in the BIG EAST standings at 6-6. Either Georgetown or Seton Hall with join the Red Storm tomorrow, as the two teams square off at 8:30 p.m. in Newark. Five teams were tied for third place in the league ledger entering the evening.

St. John's won the turnover battle convincingly, forcing 18 Butler miscues while surrendering just eight of its own. 12 of Butler's 18 turnovers were caused by Red Storm steals, marking the ninth time this season that St. John's has registered 10 or more thefts in a single game.

The Red Storm has now topped Butler (14-11, 5-7 BIG EAST) three-straight years in Queens dating back to a win over the then-No. 13 Bulldogs in December of 2016. Last year's victory also went past regulation, as the Johnnies outlasted Butler in double overtime.

The opening few minutes of the game were all St. John's, as the Red Storm held Butler scoreless for the first three minutes and unleashed a 13-3 run that featured three triples and a highlight-reel putback slam from Figueroa.

After leading by as many as 12, 17-5, St. John's saw a 7-0 Butler run quickly bring the Bulldogs back into the contest. Butler whittled the Red Storm edge down to five on a pair of occasions near the seven minute mark of the half, but the Johnnies responded both times.

St. John's bumped its lead back to 11 in the closing minutes of the period before taking a 38-30 advantage into the locker room. Clark led the way with 13 points in the opening stanza while Heron added 12.

Butler slashed its deficit back to five three times in the opening minutes of the second half, but five straight points from Heron helped bump the St. John's edge back to 11 with 13:34 to play.

From there, Butler scored on five straight possessions and rattled off the game's next 11 points to knot the contest at 51 three minutes later, marking the contest's first deadlock since the opening tip.

St. John's outscored Butler, 11-5, over the next five minutes to move ahead by six with 5:42 to play, but the Red Storm sank just one field goal the rest of the way, a Clark triple, and allowed Butler to take its first lead of the game, 66-65, with 17 seconds to play.

Free throw shooting defined the game the rest of the way, as Ponds' miss forced the overtime period before the Red Storm went 7-for-7 in the extra frame. Ponds completed a three-point play while Heron went 6-for-6 after the end of regulation.

St. John's will close out its three-game homestand on Sunday, hosting No. 13/13 Villanova at Madison Square Garden. The game, which is part of a doubleheader with the women's team beginning at 1 p.m., is set to tip off at 5 p.m. on FS1 and 570 AM WMCA.