St. John's University Athletics
Thursday, November 26
Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)
2 p.m.
St. John's University
2-0,0-0Big East
82
vs
65
La Salle
0-1,0-0Atlantic
1
2
F
La Salle
28
37
65
St. John's
34
48
82
St. John’s Pulls Away from La Salle to Clinch Lapchick Tournament Title
11/26/2020 6:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Red Storm wins Lapchick Tournament for 21st time in 22 tries
QUEENS, N.Y. – After squeaking out a one-point victory against Saint Peter's the night before, the St. John's men's basketball team provided no such drama on Thursday afternoon, downing La Salle, 82-65, to improve to 2-0 on the season and win The Lapchick Tournament title.
The pressure defense for which Head Coach Mike Anderson is so well known was on full display inside Carnesecca Arena, as the Red Storm recorded 17 steals and forced 26 La Salle turnovers. That latter total marked the highest by a St. John's opponent in more than 15 years, when Maryland Eastern Shore turned the ball over 30 times in the opener of the 2005-06 campaign.
St. John's has now won the Lapchick Tournament title 21 times in 22 tries dating back to 1975 and holds a record of 43-1 all-time in the event.
After logging 21 points on Wednesday night in his Division I debut, Vince Cole led the Red Storm in scoring once again, netting 19 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a trio of steals. The former NJCAA All-American went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line, pacing a St. John's squad that sank 20 of its 24 tries from the charity stripe on the afternoon.
Marcellus Earlington scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting while Greg Williams Jr. added 13 points and four boards.
Freshman Dylan Addae-Wusu reached double figures in just his second collegiate game, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in addition to grabbing six boards and three steals.
Isaih Moore filled up the stat sheet for the second straight day, finishing with nine points and a game-high seven rebounds. Posh Alexander also made his presence felt, tallying eight points, four assists and four steals.
Josh Roberts made the most of his first start this season, tallying four points, four boards and two blocks in 17 minutes of action.
John McGriff made his St. John's debut against the Explorers and sank a 3-pointer in the first half.
Playing without the services of their top returning scorers from last season in Rasheem Dunn and Julian Champagnie, the Red Storm set the tone defensively in the early going, holding La Salle scoreless for the game's first three and a half minutes, a stretch that featured four Explorer turnovers.
Despite struggling to find the bottom of the bucket with regularity, La Salle managed to keep it close, pulling within two on three separate occasions near the midway mark of the opening period.
St. John's then used a 7-1 run to take its largest lead of the half, 22-14, with 6:48 to go. Cole knocked down his only 3-pointer of the afternoon on the run and Moore threw down a thunderous two-handed slam.
Leading by six, 34-28, at the break, St. John's came out of the locker room swinging and quickly built its lead to double digits for the first time this season, 43-33, following a Roberts layup at the 17:23 mark.
With the lead back to six just over a minute later, the Red Storm unleashed a 17-5 run to move ahead by 18, 60-42, with 12:07 to play. Earlington sank a pair of 3-pointers on the St. John's spurt.
The Explorers would not go quietly, unleashing a 13-2 tear of their own to trim the St. John's advantage back to single digits, 69-61, with four minutes to play. The Johnnies responded by scoring eight of the game's next 10 points, erasing any hope of a La Salle comeback.
The Red Storm will return to action on Monday when the team heads to Mohegan Sun for a showdown with former BIG EAST rival Boston College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPNU and AM 970.
La Salle and Saint Peter's will play one another at Carnesecca Arena on Friday afternoon to determine the runner-up of The Lapchick Tournament.
The pressure defense for which Head Coach Mike Anderson is so well known was on full display inside Carnesecca Arena, as the Red Storm recorded 17 steals and forced 26 La Salle turnovers. That latter total marked the highest by a St. John's opponent in more than 15 years, when Maryland Eastern Shore turned the ball over 30 times in the opener of the 2005-06 campaign.
St. John's has now won the Lapchick Tournament title 21 times in 22 tries dating back to 1975 and holds a record of 43-1 all-time in the event.
After logging 21 points on Wednesday night in his Division I debut, Vince Cole led the Red Storm in scoring once again, netting 19 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a trio of steals. The former NJCAA All-American went a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line, pacing a St. John's squad that sank 20 of its 24 tries from the charity stripe on the afternoon.
Marcellus Earlington scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting while Greg Williams Jr. added 13 points and four boards.
Freshman Dylan Addae-Wusu reached double figures in just his second collegiate game, scoring 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in addition to grabbing six boards and three steals.
Isaih Moore filled up the stat sheet for the second straight day, finishing with nine points and a game-high seven rebounds. Posh Alexander also made his presence felt, tallying eight points, four assists and four steals.
Josh Roberts made the most of his first start this season, tallying four points, four boards and two blocks in 17 minutes of action.
John McGriff made his St. John's debut against the Explorers and sank a 3-pointer in the first half.
Playing without the services of their top returning scorers from last season in Rasheem Dunn and Julian Champagnie, the Red Storm set the tone defensively in the early going, holding La Salle scoreless for the game's first three and a half minutes, a stretch that featured four Explorer turnovers.
Despite struggling to find the bottom of the bucket with regularity, La Salle managed to keep it close, pulling within two on three separate occasions near the midway mark of the opening period.
St. John's then used a 7-1 run to take its largest lead of the half, 22-14, with 6:48 to go. Cole knocked down his only 3-pointer of the afternoon on the run and Moore threw down a thunderous two-handed slam.
Leading by six, 34-28, at the break, St. John's came out of the locker room swinging and quickly built its lead to double digits for the first time this season, 43-33, following a Roberts layup at the 17:23 mark.
With the lead back to six just over a minute later, the Red Storm unleashed a 17-5 run to move ahead by 18, 60-42, with 12:07 to play. Earlington sank a pair of 3-pointers on the St. John's spurt.
The Explorers would not go quietly, unleashing a 13-2 tear of their own to trim the St. John's advantage back to single digits, 69-61, with four minutes to play. The Johnnies responded by scoring eight of the game's next 10 points, erasing any hope of a La Salle comeback.
The Red Storm will return to action on Monday when the team heads to Mohegan Sun for a showdown with former BIG EAST rival Boston College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPNU and AM 970.
La Salle and Saint Peter's will play one another at Carnesecca Arena on Friday afternoon to determine the runner-up of The Lapchick Tournament.
Team Stats
LAS
SJU
FG%
.389
.452
3FG%
.261
.333
FT%
.654
.833
RB
36
39
TO
26
19
STL
13
17
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard/Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's BasketballGuard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
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