By Jacob Schneider
The St. John’s men’s basketball team finished its two-game exhibition season Sunday with a loss at Rutgers following a victory over American International College earlier in the week.
While the Red Storm struggled a bit against Rutgers, they looked very impressive in their exhibition opener.
The Johnnies first preseason game resulted in a resounding 84-52 victory over American International College at Carnesecca Arena.
St. John’s was led by sophomore Shamorie Ponds, who scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds. Ponds was one of five Johnnies in double figures. Transfer redshirt junior Marvin Clark II recorded a double-double — 12 points and 14 rebounds — in his Red Storm debut.
Transfer redshirt sophomore Justin Simon contributed six points and seven assists without surrendering a turnover.
One of the biggest questions surrounding head Chris Mullin’s team entering the season is the play on the defensive end. The Johnnies quieted any of those questions against AIC, opening to a 10-0 lead two minutes into the game and surrendering just 52 total points with their defensive effort. St. John’s limited the Aggies to a 39 percent shooting percentage and forced nine turnovers. The Johnnies held AIC to just 20 points in the second half.
The second exhibition matchup against Rutgers proved to be a different story, as St. John’s fell 80-78.
Aside from Rutgers being a more formidable opponent than American International, the defensive intensity just wasn’t there for the Red Storm, as they surrendered 80 points, the last two coming on a put back by the Scarlet Knights’ Issa Thiam to clinch the victory.
The Johnnies gave up an 11-point lead that was held halfway through the second half.
“We just let up defensively,” Mullin said after the game. “Got a little lackadaisical (on defense).”
The Red Storm permitted Rutgers to shoot 68 percent from the field in the second half and saw their five-point halftime lead vanish.
In addition to their porous defense, the Red Storm struggled on the end on of the court, shooting just 6-of-23 from beyond the arc, a 26 percent clip. St. John’s also shot a dismal 58 percent from the charity stripe.
Ponds led the Red Storm with 25 points, six assists and seven rebounds. Simon contributed 13 points and seven rebounds while Marcus LoVett put in 16 points and seven rebounds.
There were positives and negatives to take away from the two scrimmages, but now the real test begins. The Red Storm open the regular season Friday when the New Orleans Privateers come into Carnesecca Arena.
