St. John’s Downs Syracuse to Capture Empire Classic Title

Tuesday, November 22

Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclays Center)

9 p.m.

St. John's University

6-0,0-0Big East

Syracuse

3-2,0-0ACC

OT 1

Syracuse

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Downs Syracuse to Capture Empire Classic Title

11/23/2022 1:54:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm junior guard Andre Curbelo named the MVP of the Empire Classic at Barclays Center

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team captured the 2022 Empire Classic championship on Tuesday with a 76-69 overtime victory over Syracuse (3-2) at Barclays Center. Andre Curbelo exploded for a career-high 23 points, six assists and four steals to help lead the Johnnies past the Orange and improve to a perfect 6-0 on the season.

Curbelo was named the Most Valuable Player of the Empire Classic, averaging 18.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 steals over two games. On Monday, Curbelo scored 13 points, including a clutch 3-point play and another layup in the final 75 seconds to seal a 78-72 victory over Temple.

Against the Orange, St. John's also used stellar efforts from upperclassmen Joel Soriano and David Jones to extend its win streak in the series to four games dating back to the 2014-15 season. Soriano finished with a career-high 19 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field and 7-for-9 at the free-throw line. The senior from Yonkers also grabbed 14 rebounds for his NCAA-leading fifth double-double of the season. Jones delivered an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double and dished out six assists.

Posh Alexander also starred for the Red Storm, finishing with seven points, four rebounds and five assists with only one turnover. The Brooklyn native locked down defensively on Syracuse's starting backcourt, holding the Orange's leading scorer Joe Girard III to just four points on 1-for-10 shooting. The Glens Falls, N.Y., native entered the contest averaging 21.3 points per game. Then after freshman guard Judah Mintz scored 16 points in the first half, Alexander led the charge in clamping down on him in the latter stanza where he scored just four more points.

St. John's trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but trimmed the deficit to 35-29 at the break. Curbelo and Soriano combined for 19 of the team's 29 points in the opening half.

In the early going of the second half, Syracuse rebuilt a double-digit lead as Girard sank his lone basket in transition to put the Orange ahead 47-37. Minutes later, the Johnnies answered with a 14-2 run that featured back-to-back buckets by O'Mar Stanley and was capped by a 3-point play by David Jones that electrified the crowd giving St. John's a 54-52 lead with 9:20 to go. It was the Red Storm's first advantage since the 16:31 mark in the first half.

Montez Mathis extended St. John's advantage to 61-56 by sinking a three-ball with 3:47 remaining in the second half, but Syracuse forward Chris Bell countered with a triple on the next possession. After trading baskets, Jesse Edwards scored the final four points of regulation for the Orange to tie the game at 65-65 with a bucket at 1:38.

Both teams locked in defensively in the scoreless final minute and a half of regulation to force overtime.

Jones got the scoring started just over two minutes into the extra period with a bucket off the glass. After the Orange tied the game at 67, Jones hit another mid-range jumper to put the Johnnies ahead by two. Syracuse then missed the front end of a one-and-one before St. John's capitalized with a pair of Soriano free throws. Curbelo earned two more points on a goaltending call and the Johnnies iced the game with Jones' third triple of the night.

As a team, St. John's outrebounded Syracuse, 47-38, and outscored the Orange in second chance points, 15-8.

St. John's returns to action Saturday when the Red Storm hosts Niagara at 2 p.m. inside Carnesecca Arena. The contest will air on FS2.