St. John’s defeats Iona as scoring finally awakens in the second half

St. John’s Finds Offense in Win Over Iona

After a challenging few games, St. John’s finally saw their offense come alive during the second half on Saturday. Initially, their struggles against teams like Auburn and Ole Miss, as well as a sluggish start against Iona, had fans worried.

Ojia Sellers, not surprisingly, stepped up as a key player. The senior was on fire, hitting four 3-pointers in the second half. Ian Jackson, the new starting point guard, also had an impressive showing, contributing to the team’s 91-64 victory at Madison Square Garden.

In the second half alone, St. John’s racked up an impressive 55 points, shooting a remarkable 65.5 percent from the field. Sellers ended the game with 19 points. Jackson followed closely behind with 14 points, along with five rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Zuby Ejiofor made his presence felt too, snagging 10 rebounds and blocking eight shots.

Defensively, St. John’s continued their solid performance, limiting Iona to just 38 percent shooting for the game.

This victory marks the beginning of a busy schedule for the Red Storm, with a daunting four-game stretch over the next 10 days, kicking off with their Big East opener against DePaul on Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena.

It’s worth noting that St. John’s started off slow, missing 11 of their first 12 shots and falling behind by eight points early. They didn’t pull ahead until Joeson Sannon converted three free throws, helping to shift the momentum. It was surprising, in a way, to see them down by two before they went on to score 18 points to Iona’s two.

Despite only shooting 38 percent from the field and managing 10 turnovers, St. John’s still held a ten-point lead at halftime, with Sanon emerging as a standout player with 12 points, including three 3-pointers.

Iona managed to find some success in the paint, scoring 20 points, yet they struggled offensively with a shooting percentage of just 33 percent and turned the ball over seven times.

The Gaels came out strong in the second half, narrowing the gap to four points quickly. But St. John’s was starting to click offensively. They scored on 10 of their first 12 possessions, and a significant 21-4 run helped them extend their lead to 21 points after Mitchell completed a three-point play.