QUEENS, N.Y. – A wild season opener between the Saint Peter's university men's basketball team and St. John's came down to the final possession, but the back-and-forth affair ultimately ended with a 76-75 victory for the host Red Storm on Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena.
Preseason All-MAAC First Team honoree
KC Ndefo paced the Peacocks with 16 points, three steals and three blocks in a game-high 32 minutes of action and was one of four Saint Peter's scorers in double figures.
The Basics
Score: St. John's 76. Saint Peter's 75
Records: Saint Peter's (0-1) | St. John's (1-0)
Location: Carnesecca Arena | Queens, N.Y.
How It Happened
- After Saint Peter's roared out to a 9-4 lead out of the gate, the two teams went toe-to-toe over the opening segment of the contest, as the hosts grabbed a two-point edge after eight minutes.
- A Matthew Lee 3-pointer put the Peacocks ahead by one (24-23) just past the midpoint of the opening frame, but the Red Storm tallied seven in a row to take their largest lead up until that point (30-24) with under eight to go.
- The visitors answered with a mini-run of their own enunciated by a Ndefo three-point play to cut the deficit to three (30-27). Saint Peter's would eventually draw level at 36-all after a Ndefo slam before the Red Storm closed out the half on an 8-2 run to take a 44-38 advantage into the locker room.
- The Peacocks started the second half similarly to the first, using a 10-5 run to get within one. A triple by sophomore Daryl Banks III – the team's sixth of the night – made it 52-51 in favor of the hosts with nearly seven minutes gone in the period.
- Sophomore Hassan Drame established the first Saint Peter's lead of the second half (53-52) with under 12 minutes left after a layup, sparking a back-and-forth run that saw St. John's go ahead 59-55 before junior Dallas Watson connected from downtown to make it a one-point game yet again.
- With the clock ticking under six minutes, a Banks III jumper brought the Peacocks to within three to spark the visitors' comeback bid. Shortly after, his team-leading third 3-pointer of the night gave Saint Peter's a one-point lead with 3:10 left before a layup by Lee pushed the Peacocks ahead by three with just over a minute to go.
- Lee would go to the line and nailed back-to-back attempts to give the Peacocks a four-point lead under 30 seconds remaining. The hosts quickly answered with a layup on their next possession to get within two and then forced a turnover before nailing the game-winning 3-pointer with 8.5 seconds left.
- Saint Peter's had one last attempt before the buzzer sounded but came up just short.
Notes & Notables
- Ndefo led all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting; he hauled down seven boards and had three steals and three blocks to round out his solid opening night in 32 minutes of work.
- Banks III (13), Fousseyni Drame (12) and Lee (11) also contributed double-digit points. Banks finished 3-for-4 from downtown to lead an SPU contingent that finished over 40 percent (9-of-21) from the outside.
- As a team, the Peacocks shot over 50 percent from the floor (30-of-59), scored 38 from the paint and 20 off of 17 St. John's turnovers.
Up Next
Saint Peter's will return to the floor at Carnesecca Arena to take on La Salle this Friday (Nov. 27), with opening tip set for 4 p.m.
