St. John’s Downs Towson in Charity Exhibition, 64-46

Saturday, October 26

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

0-0,0-0Big East

Towson (Exh.)

0-0,0-0CAA

Towson

St. John's (NY)

Deivon Smith finished with four points, five boards, two assists and two steals in the triumph.

St. John’s Downs Towson in Charity Exhibition, 64-46

10/26/2024 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball team holds Towson to 28.8% shooting in final tune-up before regular season

QUEENS, N.Y. (Oct. 26, 2024) – In its final tune-up before the regular season, the St. John's men's basketball team coasted to a 64-46 victory over Towson on Saturday in a charity exhibition benefiting Autism Speaks.

The Red Storm's defense caused fits for Towson holding the visitors to 28.8% (17-59) shooting from the field and forced the Tigers into 25 turnovers, including 17 in the second half.

On the offensive end, the Johnnies were led by a balanced attack as all 12 players that saw game action scored. St. John's also capitalized off its takeaways by posting 24 points off turnovers and received 33 points from the bench.

RJ Luis Jr. was all over the floor finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals in just over 22 minutes of action.

Aaron Scott turned in an efficient performance going for 11 points and five boards. The North Texas transfer shot 3-for-5 from the floor with all three made field goals coming from 3-point range.

The Red Storm recorded 13 steals and eight blocks as part of its stout defensive effort against the Tigers. In addition to Luis' four steals, Brady Dunlap, Deivon Smith and Simeon Wilcher all recorded two apiece. Zuby Ejiofor tallied a game-high three blocks.

Vince Iwuchukwu scored the first four Red Storm points from inside the paint. After Scott knocked down a triple from the corner, Dunlap sank two of his own from distance to cap off an 11-0 run, putting the Johnnies up eight, 13-5, at the 14:41 mark.

Towson cut its deficit down to as few as three, 13-10, as Nendah Tarke finished of a three-point play with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half.

However, it would be as close as the Tigers would get as the Johnnies stifled the opposition on both sides of the ball. Ejiofor redirected a stretch pass by Towson in transition before Luis dove on a loose ball and sent the play in the opposite direction. Lefteris Liotopoulos found an open Scott in the corner who sank a 3-pointer to give the St. John's a 23-14 advantage with 6:28 to go in the first half.

The Red Storm's lead grew to as many as 12 in the first half after Wilcher drained a pair of free throws and Luis finished at the rim to go up, 27-15, with 4:15 remaining. The Johnnies cruised into intermission with a nine-point edge, 31-22, with Scott and Dunlap leading the way with six points each.

In the latter stanza, Wilcher opened the scoring by banking in a mid-range jumper to spring the advantage back to double-digits, 33-22. The defense continued to thrive and did not allow a two-point range field goal and only three total makes from the floor over the first 11:12 of the second half.

Coming out of the under-12 media timeout, Smith swiped one away and flew to the other end, slamming home an emphatic jam. After another Johnnies' steal by Luis Jr. on the next possession, Iwuchukwu converted a hook shot to build a 15-point cushion, 45-30.

A bounce pass into the low-block from Liotopoulos found Ejiofor, as the big man made a post move and finished through contact for an and-one ballooning the Johnnies' lead to 22, 61-39. Wilcher tacked on a free throw as St. John's built its largest lead of the day, 62-39, with 3:16 to play. A lay-in with 2:35 remaining from Towson's Tyler Tejada ended a 6:18 scoring drought as the Red Storm coasted to a win in the final minutes.

St. John's will welcome Fordham at Carnesecca Arena on Monday, Nov. 4 for a 6:30 p.m. matchup. FS1 will carry BIG EAST Opening Night Tip-Off with live look-ins of all league games while full game coverage can be seen on the FOX Sports App.