Rock bottom can wait.
St. John’s flirted with disaster, with digging an even deeper hole for itself. It nearly allowed cellar-dweller Georgetown to come to the Garden and leave victorious five days after it snapped a Big East record 29-game league losing streak.
But freshman AJ Storr’s 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left saved Mike Anderson’s team in a 75-73 victory over the dismal Hoyas. It came after Bryson Mozone’s 3-pointer had given Georgetown the lead in a disjointed game between two of the worst teams in the league. Mozone missed a good look at the horn that would’ve given Georgetown the win.
St. John’s, coming off an ugly loss at Creighton in which it allowed 104 points, rallied from a nine-point deficit late in the second half to go ahead on two David Jones free throws with 46.2 seconds left. But Mozone responded, setting the stage for the final dramatic possessions.
Jones had his best game in weeks, notching 17 points and seven rebounds. Joel Soriano added 12 points and 15 rebounds. Storr had 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Primo Spears had 25 points for Georgetown.
St. John’s started well, building a 10-point edge less than seven minutes in. It held that lead for most of the first half, before coming undone as Georgetown ripped off a 14-0 run to close the half. The Johnnies went scoreless over the final 4:17, committing three turnovers in that ugly span. Brandon Murray closed the half with a deep 3-pointer at the horn, sending Georgetown into the break with momentum.
St. John’s shot itself in the foot with turnovers (10, leading to 15 Georgetown points) and was outworked on the glass, allowing nine offensive rebounds that led to 11 second-chance points for the Hoyas. The Johnnies out-shot Georgetown, but the little things, as they have all year, added up.
