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St. John’s Basketball: Top 5 games from the 2017-18 Season

By Nick Bello

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Marvin Clark II #13, Bryan Trimble Jr. #12, Justin Simon #5, Shamorie Ponds #2, and Tariq Owens #11 of the St. John's Red Storm look on against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 7: Marvin Clark II #13, Bryan Trimble Jr. #12, Justin Simon #5, Shamorie Ponds #2, and Tariq Owens #11 of the St. John's Red Storm look on against the Villanova Wildcats at the Wells Fargo Center on February 7, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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Although there were struggles, St. John’s Basketball had some highlight moments. Here were the top-5 from the 2017-18 season.

This past season for the St. John’s Red Storm was a rollercoaster of emotions. The team saw the highest of highs as well as the lowest of lows. Although there was a lot of misfortune that happened this past season for the Red Storm, let’s focus on the positives. So without further ado, here are the top five games from this past season.

5. November 17th against Nebraska

Just a few games into the 2017-18 season the Red Storm faced off against Nebraska at a packed Carnesecca Arena. This game was electric from start to finish as the Red Storm showed how good they could be early in the season. Both Shamorie Ponds and Marcus Lovett combined for 36 points while Bashir Ahmed added 15 points of his own. The Red Storm put on what looked to be a slam dunk contest towards the end of the game. Ponds threw up an off the backboard alley-oop to Ahmed which sent Carnesecca into a frenzy. The game was ultimately capped off with a Justin Simon steal that lead to an emphatic dunk on the other end. The Red Storm blew out the Cornhuskers 79-56 boosting their record to 3-0 on the early season.

4. February 10th against Marquette

After huge wins against both Duke and Villanova, the Red Storm went up against Marquette for a Saturday matinee at a sold-out Carnesecca Arena. The Red Storm were rolling with momentum coming into this one and were ready to keep their winning streak alive against the Golden Eagles. This game was a historic one as Ponds went off scoring a Carnesecca record 44 points against the Golden Eagles in a 86-78 win. This win gave Red Storm fans hope that they could turn things around and could possibly receive an NIT bid.

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3. February 28th against Butler

The Butler Bulldogs came to Queens as the Red Storm celebrated seniors Bashir Ahmed and Amar Alibegovic on senior night. The Red Storm were without Ponds who was nursing an abdominal strain which forced them to use a seven-man rotation. This one came down to the wire as both teams refused to lose in this late-season contest. In the end, however, the Red Storm prevailed in double overtime thanks to a 24 point performance from Simon who had two crucial steals at the end of the game to lead the Red Storm to a 75-68 marathon victory.

2. February 7th at Villanova

After defeating Duke in a Saturday thriller at the Garden, the Red Storm traveled down I-95 to Philadelphia to face the then number one ranked Villanova Wildcats. With a lot of momentum after the huge win against Duke, the Red Storm looked to pull off yet another David and Goliath upset on Villanova’s home court. The game came down to the wire as the Red Storm narrowly upset the Wildcats 74-73 in an absolute shocker in Philly.

1. February 3rd against Duke

Duke. St. John’s. A sold-out Madison Square Garden. It doesn’t get much better than this. The last time the two teams faced off on the Garden floor was in 2015 when Mike Krzyzewski picked up his 1,000 win. This game would be completely different however as Chris Mullin and his squad looked to pick up their first win since December against the then third-ranked Duke Blue Devils on one of the biggest stages in college basketball. The Red Storm hung with the Blue Devils and was only down seven going into halftime. The Red Storm battled back as they built an 11 point lead with six minutes to go. Duke came back however as Gary Trent Jr put the Blue Devils back in the lead with a minute and a half to play.

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With the game on the line, Ponds came to the rescue scoring on a drive to the hole as well as on a miraculous contested three with the shot clock winding down sending the Garden crowd into pandemonium. The game wasn’t over yet however as Grayson Allen nailed a three on the other end seconds after Ponds’ three to cut the lead to one. However, Tariq Owens nailed two free throws to clinch the upset victory, restoring a sense of hope throughout Red Storm Nation.