Sir’Dominic Pointer. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/ 1495 Sports
They certainly didn’t make it easy but in the end the St. John’s Men’s Basketball Team (19-9, 8-7 Big East) held off a very tough Xavier team (18-11, 8-8 BE) for a 58-57 victory at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
It was a game of momentum and runs, even in the very last seconds it had seemed as if Xavier was going to go on a big time run. One of the biggest difference makers for this game was the play of the Red Storm defense, especially the play of Sir’Dominic Pointer and Chris Obekpa.
Pointer was able to finish the game on defense with six blocks and four steals, while Obekpa had five steals and four blocks. It was instant good energy for St. John’s when Obekpa came into the game, as the junior was able to provide great grit and energy to the team.
Meanwhile for Sir’Dominic Pointer he once again made a case for potential BIG EAST Conference Player of the Year, getting it done on both ends of the court. Pointer finished the game with 19 points, having a milestone moment earning his 1,000-point club at the 6:34 mark in the First Half of play.
D’Angelo Harrison scored 20 points for the 13th time this season and 52nd game of his career. Harrison has now reached double-figure scoring in 104-of-120 (86.7 percent) career games. Rysheed Jordan continues his outstanding play via his 10 point, six assist performance.
With the victory St. John’s has improved to 15-4 at home, while also improving to a 9-2 mark in their last 11 BIG EAST regular season games at Madison Square Garden.
Getting back to the defensive end of things the 10 blocks that the Red Storm were able to record against Xavier were the most since the 13-block effort versus Marquette on Jan. 11, 2015 and is the Red Storm’s fifth game this season with 10 or more rejections.
Fans will have one last chance to catch the St. John’s Men’s Basketball team at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, February 28 when they host Georgetown. That will be Senior Day for the Red Storm as they honor D’Angelo Harrison, Sir’Dominic Pointer, Phil Greene IV, Jamal Branch and Khadim Ndiaye. Tip-off time for that game is scheduled for 12 p.m.
1495 Sports is proud to bring the following postgame videos:
St John’s Student-Athletes D’Angelo Harrison and Sir’Dominic Pointer
St John’s Head Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Lavin
For more information on the St John’s Men’s Basketball team fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: