St. John’s Outlasts St. Francis Brooklyn, 76-70

Tuesday, November 23

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

4-1

St. Francis Brooklyn

0-4

St. Francis Brooklyn

St. John's

11/23/2021 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm men’s basketball team outscores Terriers, 19-6, in final 10 minutes

QUEENS, N.Y. – Trailing by nine with 10 minutes to go, St. John's used a decisive 18-2 run to survive a scare against St. Francis Brooklyn and come away with a 76-70 win at Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday.

"We were able to find a way to win," said Head Coach Mike Anderson. "It was a gut check, and that's what you are going to have as you continue to become a team. I was just glad to see our guys have some adversity and figure it out, and we'll learn from it."

Julian Champagnie scored 23 points, including 12 during that final run, to lead the Red Storm (4-1) to victory. The unanimous Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST selection filled the stat sheet in other ways as well, finishing with six rebounds, five assists, four blocks and four steals, the three of which set or matched career highs.

Montez Mathis, who went 6-for-10 from the field in his last outing, scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. The effort marked the third 20-point performance of his collegiate career.

Stef Smith and Dylan Addae-Wusu chipped in 10 points apiece. Smith dished out a team-high six assists while Addae-Wusu paced the Johnnies with seven boards. Addae-Wusu also tallied four assists and a career-best four steals.

Smith and Addae-Wusu were the Red Storm's primary ball-handlers, as injuries to Posh Alexander and Rafael Pinzon kept them out of the lineup

As a team, St. John's shot 56.9 percent from the floor and assisted on 19 of its 33 made field goals. In the second half alone, the Red Storm converted on 17 of their 27 tries from the field, good enough for a 63.0 percent clip.

After an opening bucket from Joel Soriano, St. Francis (0-4) unleashed a 19-4 run thanks in large part to a 5-for-7 effort from three.

From there, St. John's responded with a 13-0 run to knot the game at 19. Aaron Wheeler went 3-for-3 on the tear.

The game of runs continued with a 12-2 Terriers spurt, putting St. Francis back ahead by 10, 31-21, with 6:47 to play in the half. The Terriers were once again anchored by the long ball, starting the game 10-for-15 from beyond the arc.

Thanks to a 7-1 spurt to close the half, St. John's entered the locker room trailing by only a pair, 40-38. St. Francis went 11-for-21 from deep in the opening stanza.

St. John's could not carry over that momentum into the second half, as the Terriers began the period with an 8-0 run to move back ahead by 10., 48-38.

After the Red Storm responded with an 11-0 tear to take its first lead since the 17:30 mark of the first half, St. Francis hit back with eight points to move back on top by seven, 56-49, with 13:27 to go.

Trailing by nine, 64-55, after two Michael Cubbage free throws with 10:06 to go, the Johnnies began the run that would give them the lead for good. Champagnie scored eight points on the initial 12-0 run to put St. John's back on top. On the go-ahead scoring sequence, Champagnie poked the ball away from behind before taking the pass in transition and laying it in.

After a layup from Patrick Emilien brought the Terriers back within one, Champagnie kick-started another 6-0 spurt, extending the overall run to 18-2 and putting the Johnnies ahead by seven, 73-66, with four minutes to play.

The Terriers would get no closer than five the rest of the way.

St. John's will return to action at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday, playing host to NJIT at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on FS2.