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St. John’s Rolls Past Maryland Eastern Shore

LJ Figueroa
LJ Figueroa (Ravi Rozier)

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John’s men’s basketball team secured its best start in nearly a decade on Tuesday night, improving to 6-0 on the season with an 85-64 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore at Carnesecca Arena.

The Red Storm, the only undefeated team remaining in the BIG EAST, is 6-0 for the first time since 2009-10. The last time a St. John’s team began a campaign with more than six-consecutive victories came in 1994-95, as the Red Storm won seven-straight thanks in large part to the efforts of star freshman Felipe Lopez.

LJ Figueroa registered his second double-double in four tries against the Hawks (1-6), setting career-highs with 25 points, 13 rebounds and five steals. The former junior college All-American shot 10-of-17 from the floor, including a 4-of-7 output from long range.

Mustapha Heron narrowly missed a dominant double-double of his own, posting 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes of action. The effort marked his third 20-point game in just six tries as a member of the Johnnies.

Mikey Dixon
Mikey Dixon (Ravi Rozier)

Mikey Dixon continued his streak of extremely efficient performances, netting 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a 4-for-7 effort from downtown. The Quinnipiac transfer also dished out four assists and surrendered no turnovers in 27 minutes.

Despite failing to reach double figures for just the eighth time in his St. John’s career, junior point guard Shamorie Ponds registered a game-high six assists to go along with a half-dozen rebounds.

As a team, the Red Storm pulled down a season-high 43 rebounds and dished out 20 assists on 31 made baskets.

The Red Storm came out of the gates firing, scoring the game’s first nine points. Heron kicked things off with a midrange jumper and a triple in the opening minute.

The Johnnies went without a bucket for more than four minutes before regaining their scoring touch, unleashing an 8-1 run to move ahead by 10, 17-7, with 11:28 to play in the half.

Leading by eight, 20-12, near the midway mark of the period, the Johnnies quickly rattled off 10 unanswered. Following a Montraz Oliver layup to stop the bleeding for UMES, the Red Storm unleashed a 13-3 spurt to take their largest lead of the game so far, 43-17, on a Figueroa triple with just over four minutes remaining until the break.

In the opening half, the Red Storm shot 18-of-34 (52.9%) from the field and 11-of-21 (52.4%) from distance.

Trailing by 24, 52-28, at the intermission, the Hawks would trim the lead to as little as 15, 71-56, following back-to-back 3-pointers from Ryan Andino with eight minutes to play. The Red Storm promptly responded with 11 unanswered, putting to rest any hope of a Hawks comeback and securing their sixth-straight win to start the season.

The Red Storm will leave the Tri-State Area for the first time this weekend, traveling to the Sunshine State for the Hoophall Miami Invitational at AmericanAirlines Arena. Tip-off against Georgia Tech is scheduled for 12 p.m.

THE BREAKDOWN: RED STORM CRASH ONTO MD EASTERN SHORE

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