Box score
QUEENS, NY—St. John's took advantage of its superior size, depth and athleticism to score its sixth straight win, defeating visiting NJIT, 82-54, in men's basketball action Monday night in Carnesecca Arena.
St. John's, one of the most illustrious programs in the history of college basketball, is 7-1 this season as it continues to rebuild after some recent down years.
The Red Storm features an all-sophomore starting lineup and three of them scored in double figures Monday night, led by a game-high 18 points from spidery off guard Paris Horne, who shot 7-for-9 from the field.
Justin Burrell, a 6-8, 240 forward, finished with 14 points, including a thunderous dunk that broke the basket support, forcing a 35-minute real-time delay with 16:57 remaining on the game clock. Point guard Malik Boothe added 11 points and led his team with five rebounds.
With no one playing more than 28 minutes and nine players logging at least 11 minutes, St. John's had 11 different players in the scoring column and 12 different players with rebounds, as the Red Storm outrebounded the Highlanders, 43-30.
NJIT, which set new season highs for points scored and for points allowed in a game, had three double-figure scorers, paced by a season-high 12 points for sophomore Justin Garris. The Highlanders also got 11 points apiece from junior captain Gary Garris and sophomore guard Jheryl Wilson.
Wilson, who was coming off his first career double-double when he had 15 points and 10 rebounds two days earlier on Saturday against Maryland Eastern Shore, again led the Highlanders on the boards, pulling down a game-high six rebounds vs. St. John's.
NJIT freshman Teddy Schickel set a new personal high with seven points, all in the second half. He also matched his high for steals in a game, making a team-leading two on Monday night.
The Highlanders came into the game with a strong identity as a defensive team, having allowed just one of their first seven opponents to score more than 61 points. That one opponent was Penn State, which had defeated NJIT, 74-47, on November 17.
The Highlanders were allowing just 57.4 points per game and holding their foes to 39 percent shooting from the field.
St. John's quickly established its offensive dominance around the basket and that held up throughout the game. The Red Storm shot better than 50 percent overall (30-for-59) and made 25 of its 43 two-point attempts (58 percent). And when St. John's did miss from the field or at the foul line, where it was a pedestrian 17-for-31, it got 19 offensive rebounds to 18 defensive rebounds for the Highlanders.
The Red Storm scored the game's first eight points and never trailed.
However, Wilson scored five points and Justin Garris scored two to pull NJIT to within five points, 12-7, with 13:39 left. But Quincy Roberts and Boothe hit back-to-back three-pointers for St. John's, stretching the lead into double figures at 18-7 and a later 8-2 St. John's run pushed the lead above 20 for the first time, 38-17, after a Burrell dunk with 2:21 left in the half.
The halftime score was 42-23 for St. John's, led by Horne's 13 points. Wilson had nine points to lead NJIT at the break. The Red Storm more than doubled the Highlanders on the boards, 23-11.
NJIT scored a season-best 31 points in the second half and held its own on the boards (St. John's had a slim 20-19 second-half edge), but it wasn't enough to make a dent in the deficit, as the Red Storm picked up 40 second-half points.
The Highlanders will certainly aim to build on their offensive gains in the St. John's game while returning to their defensive identity as they go forward.
Next up is a home game Wednesday at 7 pm against Saint Peter's in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. Wednesday night's game will be the last for NJIT before it takes a hiatus from competition for final exams. The next game after Saint Peter's will be on December 20 at Rider.
