No. 5 St. John’s Surges in Second Half to Down Towson in Exhibition Contest, 73-63

Saturday, October 18

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

2 p.m.

St. John's University

0-0,0-0Big East

Towson (Exhibition)

0-0,0-0CAA

Towson

St. John's (NY)

Photo by: Vincent Dusovic

No. 5 St. John’s Surges in Second Half to Down Towson in Exhibition Contest, 73-63

10/18/2025 5:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball team engineered a 33-8 run in the second half on Homecoming Weekend at Carnesecca Arena

QUEENS, N.Y. – The No. 5 St. John's men's basketball team surged in the second half to down Towson, 73-63, in its first exhibition game of the 2025-26 campaign.

Trailing by double-digits in the second half, the Johnnies engineered a 33-8 scoring run to lead by as many as 17 with 4:40 remaining. The Red Storm outscored the Tigers 52-31 over the final 18:42 of the preseason tilt in Queens.

Bryce Hopkins filled the box score, leading the Red Storm with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Red Storm were balanced offensively with six players scoring eight points or more. The Johnnies shot 50.0 percent (14-28 FG) from field goal range during the 52-point second half. The St. John's bench added 32 points.

Sadiku Ibine Ayo, Zuby Ejiofor, Joson Sanon and Oziyah Sellers all chipped in nine points apiece in the winning effort. The team shot 80.8 percent (21-26 FT) from the free throw line with Sellers leading the way going 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.

St. John's recorded 12 steals and forced the Tigers into 17 turnovers.

Towson's Jack Doumbia led all scorers with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor. Unanimous Preseason All-CAA selections Dylan Williamson (17) and Tyler Tejada (13) finished in double-figures for the Tigers.

Both sides started slow offensively. St. John's held a narrow advantage as Ruben Prey found a cutting Hopkins for an and one lay-in to put the Red Storm ahead, 9-6.

After a pair of triples, the visitors took their first lead of the afternoon, 14-11, with 9:08 remaining in the first half. The Towson lead expanded to as many as 10 in the opening half. Hopkins finished a fastbreak lay-up for the final bucket of the opening 20 minutes, as the Tigers carried a 29-21 lead into the break.

In the second half, Towson ballooned its lead to as many as 11, 32-21, with 18:42 remaining in the contest. The Red Storm responded with a quick 5-0 spurt in a 34 second span after a bucket in the paint from Prey and a triple from Ian Jackson to quickly trim the deficit to six, 32-26.

With 15 minutes left in regulation, the Tigers held a six-point edge before the Red Storm turned the tides with a dominant 13-0 scoring run. Sanon tied the game for the first time since midway through the first half by nailing a long two-point jumper off a turnover to knot the score, 36-36, with 12:16 left to play. Ibine Ayo capped off the stretch with an old fashioned three-point play off a feed from Prey to propel the Red Storm to a five-point lead.

The Tigers tied the game for the fourth time before Ibine Ayo rattled home a 3-pointer to put St. John's up by three, 44-41. Six makes from the free throw line ignited a 17-1 run to provide a cushion for the Johnnies. Ibine Ayo knocked down his second triple before the run closed with a slam from Dillon Mitchell to give the Red Storm its largest lead of the game, 61-44, with 4:40 left to play.

The Tigers clawed back with 13-2 stretch to get back within six on two occasions. In the final minutes, Hopkins and Zuby Ejiofor threw down fastbreak dunks to seal the deal at Carnesecca Arena as St. John's claimed a double-digit exhibition victory.

The Red Storm will be back in action for its second and final exhibition contest against No. 7 Michigan for the Bad Boy Mowers Series- New York at Madison Square Garden. To purchase tickets for the Red Storm's debut at the World's Most Famous Arena, click here.