St. John’s Starts Season in Resounding Fashion

November 6 , 2018

St. John’s opened its season and the GotPrint.com Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper with a convincing 76-55 win over Loyola Maryland at Carnesecca Arena.

The Red Storm began strong and only got stronger, shooting 56 percent from the field to take a 48-23 halftime lead. St. John’s proceeded to open the second half with a 10-2 run to provide their largest lead of the game, 58-25.

Big East preseason Player of the Year Shamorie Ponds (pictured), who had been named to the Naismith Award preseason player of the year watch list the day before, led all scorers with 20 points. Mustapha Heron, the Auburn transfer making his Queens debut, netted 15 points to go along with seven rebounds. Mikey Dixon had 13 points, Justin Simon tallied 10 points and six rebounds, and LJ Figueroa posted nine points and eight rebounds.

Loyola received 17 points from Andrew Kostecka and 12 points from Chuck Champion. The game marked the head coaching debut of Tavaras Hardy.

The GotPrint.com Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper continues on Friday with St. John’s returning to action at home to Bowling Green, Detroit Mercy at Temple, and VCU hosting Hampton.

St. John’s, Temple, VCU, and California will travel to Brooklyn to participate in the Championship Rounds of the GotPrint.com Legends Classic presented by Old Trapper. The Red Storm will meet the Bears while the Owls take on the Rams, their former Atlantic 10 foe, in the semifinal round on Monday, Nov. 19 at Barclays Center. The consolation and championship games will then be played on Tuesday, Nov. 20.

Tickets for the games at Barclays Center are available at www.ticketmaster.com