By Stephen Zitolo
St. John’s looked very deserving of its national ranking by the time its rout of Fordham was over.
The 20th-ranked Red Storm struggled early, lost star junior forward Chris Obekpa to an ejection in the first half, but were still able to win in dominating fashion, 74-53, over Fordham by going with a smaller lineup in the MSG Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden Sunday.
“I was pleased with the response of our team to the disappointment of the loss of Chris Obekpa and having Sir’ Dominic Pointer on the bench with foul trouble,” St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin said. “Those were the positives I thought we could pull out of today’s game.”
Add into that, sophomore guard Rysheed Jordan came off the bench for the Red Storm and had one of his best collegiate performances. He had a spectacular night shooting the ball and scored a game-high 24 points. Jordan played just as well on the defensive end.
“Rysheed Jordan was lights out on both sides of the ball,” Lavin said. “I thought Rysheed played with poise and made excellent choices. He played a near-perfect game. I really like the way he is playing, but it is not as though he has ever been in a place where I wasn’t aware of his ability.”
The key to the dominant victory was their ability to force and capitalize on Fordham turnovers. They made the Rams cough up the ball 20 times and scored 28 points off of them. D’Angelo Harrison added 22 points for St. John’s.
Eric Paschall led Fordham (3-5) with 14 points.
The Red Storm (8-1) got off to a rocky start as they struggled for the game’s first 10 minutes and trailed by as much as six to an inexperienced Fordham team. In the next 10 minutes of the half, the Red Storm surged ahead, even with the loss of Obekpa to an ejection after he committed his second technical foul with three minutes left in the first half. St. John’s then turned to a four-guard lineup and the full court press that frustrated the Rams.
“When CO (Chris Obekpa) was out, we went to our press and that caused a little but of trouble for them,” Harrison said. “They threw a few out of bounds and turned some balls over. We turned the heat up on defense and were able to get some stops out of that as well.”
St. John’s carried the momentum over from the first half with a 32-8 run after Obekpa’s ejection. The Red Storm controlled the second half, continuing to force turnovers as the Rams shot just 9-for-24 from the field and 2-for-14 from beyond the arc.
“Coach stressed playing better defense in the second half,” Harrison said. “We picked it up towards the end of first half, that’s the style of basketball we play. We got to a slow start today, but we closed it out in the second half to get the win.”
