Julian Champagnie scored 19 points as St. John’s took control midway through the first half and recorded an 82-64 victory over visiting Colgate Sunday afternoon in Queens, N.Y.
The Red Storm (8-2) improved to 8-0 in their on-campus building on coach Mike Anderson’s 62nd birthday and dominated most of the game after struggling to beat Monmouth on Thursday.
Champagnie made 7 of 12 shots, including five 3-pointers. He also added six rebounds.
Posh Alexander added 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He also had seven rebounds, four assists and three of St. John’s’ 10 steals.
Rafael Pinzon added a season-best 14 points in St. John’s first meeting with Colgate since 1997.
Dylan Addae-Wusu contributed 10 points as St. John’s shot 47.3 percent from the field and got 34 points from its bench.
Colgate (4-7) played without leading scorer Nelly Cummings due to undisclosed reasons. Cummings made the trip and was on the bench in street clothes as the Raiders lost for the fifth time in six games since their 15-point win at Syracuse on Nov. 20.
Jack Ferguson led all scorers with 23 points. He was 8-of-15 shooting and made a career-high seven 3-pointers.
Keegan Records added 11 and Oliver Lynch-Daniels contributed 10 for Colgate, which shot 40.7 percent and committed 16 turnovers compared to six for the Red Storm.
After missing eight straight shots, St. John’s ripped off 11 straight points for a 22-15 lead on a layup by Addae-Wusu with 9:51 remaining in the first half. St. John’s grew the lead to 27-18 on a 3-pointer by Aaron Wheeler with 8:40 left, opened a 35-21 lead on a jumper by Montez Mathis a little over three minutes later and held a 43-30 lead on a 3-pointer by Champagnie with 2:42 left before taking a 46-35 lead at halftime.
The Red Storm opened a 59-41 lead when Champagnie blocked a layup attempt by Jeff Woodward and Alexander converted a layup with 12:38 left. The Red Storm then extended the lead to 70-48 on a 3-pointer by Addae-Wusu with 9:29 remaining to essentially clinch the win.
–Field Level Media
