SJU Guts Out Win In Overtime Thriller
When you’ve been in as many close, dizzying battles as St. John’s veteran guys have and when you’ve won as many games as Mike Anderson, you realize that sometimes when you win you must get a bit lucky. Luck was only a minimal factor in St. John’s 77-68 win over NJIT
Luck may have worked in their favor when NJIT missed an open layup on what would have been the go-ahead bucket Saturday afternoon. It was as good a look you could have asked for, especially during a game when SJU underachieved offensively but protected the rim defensively throughout the second half.
The blown layup and missed possession enabled St. John’s to regroup. St. John’s fumbled on the final possession, with Posh Alexander losing the control of the ball on a play and an NJIT defender knocking the ball out of bounds.
While there was initially 0.07 seconds to go, 1.6 seconds was added to the clock. Alexander got a look on a 3-pointer, but it fell way off the mark, as NJIT capitalized on a wowing 21-5 run they closed the 63-all game on to force overtime.
Montez Mathis scored the go-ahead bucket on a Euro step layup through traffic, Joel Soriano turned in a traditional 3-point play with 2:37 left in OT. James Lee answered with a traditional 3-point play to cut St. John’s lead to 70-68.
Dylan Wusu drew a foul with 1:23 remaining and connected on both free throws. Esaiah Nwiye, who was active in extended minutes, got fouled on an offensive putback attempt and connected 1 of 2 free throws. Alexander got free for a lay in on a home run inbound pass from Wusu to seal it.
Soriano put together a near double-double with 16 points and nine boards, a performance underscored by his traditional 3-point play in the extra session. Alexander returned to score 16 points to go with seven assists and four steals, the loud impact he has throughout the game evident. Julian Champagnie scored 14 points to go with 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Lee, who played at Montverde Academy (FL) and Salt Lake CC, scored a game-best 17 points, and had seven steals, four assists and eight rebounds to pace NJIT’s upset bid. Westchester County, NY native Mekhi Gray had 12 points, including a smooth step back 3-pointer and transition layup as NJIT cut the deficit to once in the second half.