St. John's Stays Perfect With Convincing Win Over St. Francis

     St. John’s gave fans an early Christmas present as they raised their perfect record to 11-0 with their most dominant performance of the season in an 86-52 win over St. Francis of Brooklyn. The Johnnies set the pace on defense where they held the Terriers to just 28% shooting forced 14 turnovers and blocked six shots. On offense, forward LJ Figueroa and reserve guard Mikey Dixon tied for game high scoring honors with 13 points while Marvin Clark and Shamorie Ponds added 12 apiece. Clark had his best all-around game of the season adding 7 rebounds 4 assists and 3 blocks.

    St. Francis lead briefly 6-4 when, with just under 16 minutes left, St. John’s would begin a 10-0 run capped by a Justin Simon rebound and length of the court drive that culminated with a powerful right-handed dunk. The Red Storm extended that run to 22-6 to take control of the game. They then answered a 7-1 Terriers’ run with a buzzer beating banked in trey by Dixon that gave them a 37-25 lead at intermission.  The Johnnies then scored the first 8 points of the intermission to put the game out of reach for St. Francis.

    The game provided an opportunity for the team’s trio of freshmen to get some playing time and each took advantage. Swingman Greg Williams connected on his first four shots, including a rim rattling dunk when he cut to the basket and took a pass from Figueroa. Center Josh Roberts had a dunk of his own and two rebounds. Marcellus Earlington’s 4 minutes of action featured 7 points and 5 rebounds as well as a play that will likely earn him some praise in a film session. After he missed a free throw off the back of the rim, he alertly followed it up for a basket while everyone watched. He was, apparently the only player on the court who knew he was shooting the front end of a one and one situation.  It was that kind of night for St. John’s and the play of the youngsters put a fitting cap on a very good night.

     Next up for the Johnnies is their final contest before Big East play begins. They’ll host another Northeast Conference foe Sacred Heart beginning at 8 pm.