Julian Champagnie had 34 points and 16 rebounds and Posh Alexander had 16 points and four assists as St. John’s came back from a lengthy COVID pause and held off DePaul 89-84 at its on-campus arena in Queens, New York, on Wednesday night.
St. John’s Dylan Addae-Wusu had 17 points and eight assists. He hit a clinching 3-pointer with 28 seconds left and the shot clock about to expire, giving the Red Storm an 87-81 lead.
Montez Mathis scored 11 points for St. John’s (9-3, 1-0 Big East), which hadn’t played since losing to Pitt on Dec. 18.
Javon Freeman-Liberty scored 24 points and Jason Terry 14 for the Blue Demons (9-4, 0-3), who led by five midway through the second half.
Philmon Gebrewhit’s 3-point play with 5:29 left cut the St. John’s lead to 73-72, but Champagnie, who missed the loss to Pitt because of COVID protocols, made a shot in the paint and a three to extend the lead to 78-72. DePaul didn’t get closer than three after that.
St. John’s led 51-43 on Champagnie’s dunk off a pass from Alexander early in the second half. But DePaul used a 14-2 run to take a 57-53 lead on a 3-pointer by Johnson from the left corner with 13:04 left in the game.
The Blue Demons extended their lead to five, but St. John’s answered with a 10-3 run for a 65-63 lead with 8:54 left on a dunk by Mathis, courtesy of a steal and assist by Addae-Wusu.
St. John’s led by seven early in the game, but Freeman-Liberty made 3-pointer with 8:01 left in the first half to cut the deficit to 23-21. The Red Storm responded with nine straight points for their largest lead at 32-21.
During the run, Champagnie and Alexander both made a trey and Mathis capped it with a steal and an uncontested dunk with 5:06 left in the half.
Alexander had a drive down the lane and a finger roll at the buzzer for a 39-35 halftime advantage for St. John’s.
–Field Level Media
