St. John’s beats Duke in Thriller at The Garden
The St. John’s Red Storm (11-13, 0-11 Big East) hosted the No. 4 ranked Duke Bluedevils (19-3, 7-3 ACC) in a nationally-televised matchup held at the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.
Ponds simply had his way with Duke. They couldn’t guard him at all. Photo APNews.com
Despite having a 10-2 non conference record heading into the Duke game, St. John’s hasn’t had the success they had wished for this season. They have lost their last 11 games versus Big East opponents and having Duke in town is not the best moral booster. This game would probably be the biggest test the Johnnies were going to have this season and they would need to play a perfect game if they wanted to come out with a victory.
The garden was sold out to see this matchup. Photo ATH
St Johns came out the gate focused and didn’t seem phased by the National powerhouse coming to town. Duke came out firing in the first half led by Gary Trent Jr’s hot start. St. John’s managed to force Duke into 12 first half turnovers, which is a good sign for the rest of the game. The Johnnies looked confident and played with heart and plenty of emotion. Both teams were consistent early on and the game remained close heading into halftime with Duke having a slight lead of 39-32.
Tariq Owens played some huge minutes for St. John’s and gave the a boost in the 2nd half. Phot APNews.com
Led by Shamorie Ponds and Bashir Ahmed’s shooting, the Red Storm claimed its first lead early in the second half. Their hot shooting carried them to a 10 point lead with about 6 minutes left in the game. It turned into a slug fest with duke’s Trevon Duval hitting a clutch 3 and scoring on a couple of easy layups, which cut the St. John’s lead to 4 with under 3 minuets remaining. As the game got down to the closing moments the pressure mounted.
Marvin Bagley is projected to be a top 3 pick in the JUNE’s NBA draft. Photo Overtime Tae
Throughout the game, Shamorie Ponds did whatever he wanted to do on the court. He controlled the pace and was practically unguardable. The sophomore point guard was recognized before the game for scoring 1000 points and added a game high 33 points to his total. Duke’s Coach K praises Shamorie and said “He’s as good of a guard as we’ve seen all year”. This is very respectable considering Duke playing in a very competitive conferences, the ACC.
Shamorie Ponds had a game high 33 points on the national powerhouse Duke. Photo Overtime Tae.
With the game in the balance, Duke’s Marvin Bagley forced a St. John’s turnover and kicked the ball to Gary Trent for a clutch 3 point shot with 2 minutes left in the game, bringing the game to a one point deficit. St. John’s held that narrow 1 point lead when Ponds hit a 3 from NBA range with the shot clock winding down. The sold out Garden erupted in cheers. Before the crowd could settle down Grayson Allen also hit a three pointer, leaving only a few seconds on the clock. St. John’s turned the rest of the game into a free throw contest and escaped with the upset victory. Shamorie Ponds led all scorers with 33 points, with 24 of those points coming in the 2nd half.
Duke featured some of the best talent in the country but couldn’t seem to get it done. Photo APNews.com
This was a huge win for St. John’s. Not only for their record but also for their confidence. They won the defensive battle forcing Duke into 18 turnovers, which is uncharacteristic for that team. St. John looks to ride this momentum into their next few games. The next huge test for them is Villanova, who unlike St. John’s, has been on a hot streak in their last few games. Only time will tell how the Johnnies will respond the rest of the season. If this game is any indication on how the rest of the season goes they will be in good shape.