No. 14/15 St. John’s Falls to No. 21/25 Auburn, 85-74, in Players Era Finale

Wednesday, November 26

Las Vegas, Nev. (Michelob ULTRA Arena)

8 p.m.

St. John's University

4-3,0-0Big East

No. 21/25 Auburn

6-2,0-0SEC

St. John's (NY)

Auburn

Joson Sanon chipped in 16 points, while recording a season- and game-high four three-pointers.

No. 14/15 St. John’s Falls to No. 21/25 Auburn, 85-74, in Players Era Finale

11/26/2025 11:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Red Storm Senior Forward Zuby Ejiofor scored team-high 24 points

LAS VEGAS – Leading by nine at the half, No. 14/15 St. John's saw No. 21/25 Auburn shoot 64.0 percent in the second half of Wednesday's Players Era Championship finale, as the Tigers defeated the Johnnies, 85-74.

Senior Zuby Ejiofor logged his second highest scoring game of season, finishing with 24 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with six rebounds. The senior went 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.

Sophomore guard Joson Sanon added a season-high 16 points, connecting on a season-best four 3-pointers.

Graduate student Bryce Hopkins tallied nine points and seven rebounds for St. John's (4-3).

Sophomore guard Tahaad Pettiford scored a game-high 27 points while senior forward Keyshawn Hall added 20 for the Tigers, who shot 54.7% for the game.

Following its best offensive performance of the season against Baylor, the Red Storm struggled in the early going against the Tigers. The Johnnies opened 1-for-6 from the floor with five turnovers in the first five and a half minutes, falling behind 9-4.

Facing its largest deficit of the half, 17-10, with 10 and a half minutes to go, St. John's settled in defensively and slowly chipped away on the other end, retaking the lead, 28-27, on a Ruben Prey free throw with 4:09 to play.

After Auburn evened the score at 28 with a 1-for-2 trip to the line, the Red Storm closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 39-30 lead into the locker room. Ejiofor punctuated the half with a 3-pointer on the Johnnies' final possession.

Ahead by seven, 56-49, with 12:30 to go, St. John's was outscored 24-10 over the next seven and half minutes, as Auburn took a 73-66 lead with 5:11 remaining. Pettiford scored 12 points during the spurt.

The Red Storm got back within four on the following possession, but that was as close as the Johnnies would get, as Auburn made nine of its last 11 field goal attempts.

St. John's will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 6, when it welcomes Ole Miss to Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. on Peacock and 1050 AM ESPN New York.