St. John's 69, Syracuse 57: D'Angelo Harrison scored 24 points and Phil Greene IV capped an 18-point performance with several big shots down the stretch as the Red Storm posted their first win at the Carrier Dome since 1999.
Chris Obekpa collected a career-high 16 rebounds and four blocks to go along with five points as St. John's (6-1) held Syracuse to 39.3 percent shooting from the floor, including 3-of-22 from 3-point range. Rysheed Jordan pitched in 11 points in a reserve role for the Red Storm, while Sir'Dominic Pointer notched nine points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals.
Rakeem Christmas collected 15 points and 15 rebounds to pace Syracuse (5-3), which had won 55 straight non-conference games at home since losing to Cleveland State on a banked-in 3-pointer from beyond half court nearly seven years ago. Chris McCullough and Michael Gbinije chipped in 13 points apiece for the Orange, who lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Led by Harrison's 12 first-half points and nine from Jordan, the Red Storm entered halftime with a 32-28 advantage, although the Orange caught up at 51-51 on McCullough's dunk with 8:25 remaining. The teams jockeyed back and forth over the next several minutes before Greene made a tying 3-pointer with 4:08 left, hit a go-ahead 3 with 2:25 to play and put St. John's ahead 60-55 with an athletic transition layup with 2:05 to go.
Ron Patterson's transition dunk with 1:32 left drew the Orange within three points, but Greene answered with a triple as the shot clock was winding down, capping a 9-of-16 performance from long range for the Red Storm. Obekpa blocked McCullough on the other end before Harrison, Pointer and Greene each made a pair of foul shots in the final minute to end St. John's nine-game skid at Syracuse.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Jordan was the only player who scored off the St. John's bench. Syracuse's reserves combined for 11 points, albeit on 4-of-15 shooting. ... Trevor Cooney and Kaleb Joseph, the starting backcourt for the Orange, totaled five points on 2-of-11 shooting. ... The Orange shot 10-of-20 from the foul line, including a 3-of-10 effort by McCullough, while the Red Storm was 20-of-25 from the stripe.
St. John's | Syracuse | |
D'Angelo Harrison 24 | Scoring | Rakeem Christmas 15 |
Sir'Dominic Pointer 5 | Assists | Michael Gbinije 5 |
Chris Obekpa 16 | Rebounds | Rakeem Christmas 15 |
D'Angelo Harrison 8 | Free Throws Made | Rakeem Christmas 5 |
Phil Greene IV 2 | Steals | Chris McCullough 3 |
Chris Obekpa 4 | Blocks | Rakeem Christmas 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
St. John's | 69 | 37.7 | 9-16 | 20-25 | 12 | 37 | 7 | 7 | 10 |
Syracuse | 57 | 39.3 | 3-22 | 10-20 | 17 | 37 | 6 | 7 | 12 |