Recent wins for St. John’s have followed the same formula: struggling for long periods and then making enough plays to get the win.
The Red Storm look to remain unbeaten at their on-campus building Sunday afternoon when they host Colgate in Queens, N.Y.
Heading into their penultimate nonconference game, the Red Storm (7-2) are 7-0 on campus. Their only losses were at Indiana on Nov. 17 and Dec. 3 against Kansas in Elmont, N.Y.
St. John’s opened the season by beating Mississippi Valley State and Saint Peter’s by a combined 79 points, but against local opponents — Fairleigh Dickinson, St. Francis of New York, NJIT, Fordham and Monmouth — St. John’s has won by an average of 9.4 points.
After pulling away for a 14-point win over Fordham a week ago, the Red Storm held off a tough challenge in Thursday’s 88-83 win over Monmouth.
“We’re having more of those stretches now where we go up and push the pedal, but we get lost in whatever it is,” St. John’s forward Julian Champagnie said. “Now our next step is to get there and get over the hump, and finish teams.”
Part of the reason for St. John’s being able to pull out these recent wins is the performance of Posh Alexander. Alexander scored 21 points Thursday after getting a career-high 23 against Fordham.
Colgate (4-6) averages 77.5 points per game to lead the Patriot League. The Raiders are just 1-4 in their past five games since a 100-85 triumph at Syracuse on Nov. 20.
Colgate nearly knocked off a second Atlantic Coast Conference foe on Thursday when it fell short in a 71-68 loss at Pittsburgh. The Raiders blew a three-point lead in the final 84 seconds after trailing by 11 early in the second half.
Nelly Cummings led the Raiders with 17 points and has scored at least 15 points eight times so far, including 26 against Columbia on Monday.
“I’m proud of our group,” Colgate coach Matt Langel said. “Our record isn’t indicative of the team that we are. These games will help us a lot moving forward.”
St. John’s leads the all-time series 5-2 and Sunday is the first meeting since 1997.
–Field Level Media