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The 6th Man of St. John's Basketball

For the die hard St. John's fan.
The unofficial 6th man. est. '07
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St. John’s Continue Rivalry With Syracuse Through 2015

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St. John’s and Syracuse released a joint announcement to state that the two schools will have a home-and-home series over the course of the next two seasons.

The fist game will be held next season at Madison Square Garden on December 15. The meeting at the Carrier Dome will occur the year after, in a date that has yet to be determined.

The continuation of the series was foreshadowed in July, when ‘Cuse coach Jim Boeheim expressed his interest in maintaining a connection with the Red Storm. St. John’s coach Steve Lavin also commented on the ongoing rivalry.

“St. John’s and Syracuse are two of the storied programs in NCAA history, both with top 10 numbers in overall victories and winning percentage.” Coach Lavin tweeted. “The Johnnies and Cuse rivalry is now more than a century old and deserves to continue.”

Syracuse has won their last seven match-ups with St. John’s while holding a 47-39 edge in the all time series. The two teams will play their 87th game February 10 as the Storm head up to the home of the Orange.

JaKarr Sampson Wins League Leading 5th Big East Player Of The Week Award

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For the second week in a row, and the league leading fifth time, St. John’s freshman JaKarr Sampson was named Big East Rookie of the Week.

Sampson is on his way to joining the illustrious group of players to receive the award on numerous occassions. Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson won it 10 and 9 times respectively. Sampson has five more weeks to try to catch them.

In a week that saw St. John’s go 2-0, Sampson shot an incredibly efficient 16-32 from the field. He also averaged 6 rebounds and 1.5 assist in the two game span.

Against Rutgers Sampson dropped 21 points, one shy of his career high. He kept the scoring up when the Red Storm hosted Seton Hall, scoring 19 points while shooting 56% from the field.

Sampson will look to work on his third award in a row January 30 as St. John’s goes for their fifth straight victory.

St. John’s Hangs on Against Seton Hall for Fourth Straight Win, 71-67

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Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The St. John’s Red Storm (13-7, 5-3) returned home to Madison Square Garden to face the Seton Hall Pirates (13-7, 2-5,) as the Storm looked to extend their win streak to four straight games.

While St. John’s was looking to extend their overall win streak to four in a row, Seton Hall was looking to extend their record over the Storm to 4-0 in their last four games.

Both teams go off to quick starts, with the Pirates leading 12-11 after the first 5 minutes. D’Angelo Harrison and JaKarr Sampson scored all 11 of the Red Storm points.

“Everyone comes out energetic and we are playing in The Garden today, so players are making shots.” Sampson said after the game. “We don’t let [the opponent having] a lead get us down.”

Seton Hall was able to extend their lead over St. John’s thanks to 5-6 shooting from beyond the arc. That three point shooting gave the Pirates a 27-19 lead with 10 to go in the half.

D’Angelo Harrison responded with his second three pointer of the game to get St. John’s within five, at 29-24. Following his three, Harrison managed a huge block on the Pirates, helping the Storm keep it close.

Neither team found the bottom of the bucket for the next three minutes, Until Sir’Dom Pointer hit a free throw with 6 minutes remaining in the first.

Sampson got the Storm within two, but Seton Hall came back the other way for their first points in five minutes. Harrison got St. John’s back within two, and with 3 to play they trailed 31-29.

St. John’s finally knotted the score for the first time since tipoff at 31 all following a Phil Greene basket. The bucket was part of a 17-4 for the Storm to end the half.

Chris Obekpa then had an incredible block that sent the ball to midcourt. The Storm grabbed possession of the block and with a minute left in the first, they took the lead 33-31.

Harrison finished the half with a buzzer beating three, giving St. John’s a 38-33 advantage after the games first 20 minutes. Harrison would also be the leading scorer of the half, with 13 points. Sampson was right behind him with 12 points of his own.

The Red Storm kept the attack going out of the half, with Sampson slamming down a one handed dunk and Pointer knocking down a bank shot. The lead continued to grow, and 2 minutes in St. John’s led 44-33.

Aaron Geramipoor finally got the Pirates on the board in the second, but Sampson came right back down the other way to match the basket.

Pointer would block Geramipoor on the next Seton Hall possession. He then came right down the other way to hit a three that would give the Red Storm a 49-35 edge 4 minutes into the second.

The Pirates would finally get on a little run of their own following an Obekpa goaltending call. Their 7-0 streak was ended however with 12 to go, with St. John’s holding on to a 55-44 lead.

Seton Hall continued to go on a run until Jamal Branch laid himself out on the floor for a steal and then threw it over to Obekpa who took it down the floor for a dunk. The hustle play was not enough to put the momentum back in favor of the Storm, and with 8 in the game they led 58-50.

Harrison began to struggle from the field for the Storm, allowing the Pirates to go a 9-0 run to get the game within one. As the clock wound down to the last 4 minutes, St. John’s led just 60-59.

After Harrison hit  one of two free throws, the Storm finally ended the Seton Hall run. He then hit a deep jump shot on the next St. John’s possession to give the Storm a 63-59 advantage with 2 in the game.

Thanks to 8 points late by Harrison, St. John’s was able to hold on and defeat Seton Hall, 71-67. Harrison would finish the day with 24 points and 7 rebounds, leading the Storm to their fourth straight victory.

JaKarr Sampson would also have a big day, finishing with 19 points. Chris Obekpa contributed 4 blocks while also chipping in 4 points.

“What I was most proud of was how we found a way, after Seton Hall went on a run, to go on a run of our own.” Coach Steve Lavin said. “We are trending in the right direction; and with that being said, these kids are very humble and realize we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

St. John’s will look for win number five in a row as they head to Carnesecca Arena January 30 to host the DePaul Blue Demons

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Pointer’s Career Day Sparks St. John’s 3rd Straight Win

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Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

With two wins in a row, the St. John’s Red Storm  (12-7, 4-3) would look to continue their recent Big East success against the Rutgers Scarlett Knights(12-6, 3-4.)

The last four meetings between St. John’s and Rutgers have been decided by a total of just nine points, with the Knights winning this seasons first match-up over the Storm, 58-56.

Jerome Seagears and Myles Mack each hit three pointers for Rutgers to get the games scoring going. St. John’s bounced back quick forcing two turnovers and scoring two buckets, 3 minutes in they trailed 6-4.

The Knights continued turning over the ball, but the Storm would fail to capitalize. With St. John’s shooting 25% from the field, they found themselves in a 12-7 hole 8 minutes in.

Poor shooting continued for St. John’s, and after a period of hitting just 1 of 10 shots, D’Angelo Harrison finally nailed a three. Rutgers would still be in charge however,  leading 18-12 with 9 to go in the half.

Jamal Branch had an impressive reverse layup following a Rutgers bucket. This led the Storm to a mini 6-0 run, and with 6 minutes in the half they were down 20-18.

After trading a few buckets, Rutgers came down the floor and slammed home a dunk to take a 28-21. JaKarr Sampson would  hit a bucket the next time down the floor, cutting the lead to five and propelling St. John’s to a huge run with 3 minutes to play.

Felix Balamou made an appearence for the Storm as he finished up a three point play after Sir’Dom Pointer stole a Rutgers inbound pass. This shrank the Knights advantage to just one point with 1 minute to play.

St. John’s finally took the lead after Sampson hit two free throws, capping off an 8-0 run to end the half and giving the Storm a 29-28 edge.

Pointer had 5 steals in the first half while JaKarr Sampson finished with a team high 8 points. The St. John’s defense held Rutgers leading scorer Eli Carter without a bucket as he shot 0-6 from the field.

“Coach (Lavin) says we’re road warriors.” Pointer said of the tenacious play St. John’s has exhibited on the road recently. “We try to go out and play hard every game”

The St. John’s streak continued coming out of halftime, with Sampson hitting the first bucket of the second half two minutes in. St. John’s continued building their run, shutting out Rutgers for 17 straight points.

Things would not get much better for the Scarlet Knights, who were held without a point for about 7 and a half minutes of play. They would finally end the 17-0 St. John’s run after hitting a free throw, and with 14 to play they trailed 38-29.

Despite their anemic offense keeping them off the board, the Scarlet Knights went on a 7-0 run to get right back in the game. The scoring streak seemed to coincide with Sir’Dom Pointer heading to the bench after getting in foul trouble.

Following a Steve Lavin timeout, Sampson hit a floater and on the next couple of possessions got himself to the line where he hit all three free throws. With 12 minutes to play the Red Storm led Rutgers 43-35.

Eli Carter finally got on the board for the Knights, hitting two free throws followed by a three. Sampson came back from the Carter three  by hitting a deep two, and with 1o left in the game St. John’s led 48-40.

After Rutgers got within six, the Storm took their biggest lead of the game. A Harrison three would give St. John’s an 11 point lead and with 8 to go St. John’s led 55-44.

Frustration continued to grow for the Scarlet Knights with Carter pushing Pointer to the ground for an offensive foul. Sampson would retaliate with a dagger bucket to give St. John’s a 58-47 lead with the clock winding down to the last 4 minutes.

St. John’s would go on to win it by a final of  72-60. Sampson finished just one point shy of his career high, with 21 points. Pointer would fill up the stat sheet with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assist, 6 steals, and 2 blocks.

“It feels great to know that we are moving in the right direction.” Pointer said of the fourth Big East win.”The numbers are good, but the win is better.”

The Red Storm will look to keep their winning streak alive as they host Seton Hall on January 27 as they head back to Madison Square Garden.

JaKarr Sampson Named Big East Rookie Of The Week For Fourth Time

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Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

For the fourth time this season, JaKarr Sampson of the St. John’s Red Storm has been named the Big East Rookie of the Week.

Sampson had a team high 17 points in the St. John’s upset over #20 Notre Dame. He added 4 rebounds as well as 1 assist, steal, and block in the win over the Irish.

Against DePaul, Sampson chipped in 10 points and 5 rebounds. He played a strong defensive game committing zero fouls while pitching in a block as the Storm beat the Blue Demons.

Currently Sampson leads all Big East freshman in scoring and rebounding per game, averaging 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds a night.

Last year, Moe Harkless won the award twice for St. John’s before going on to be named Big East Rookie of the Year. At this pace, the accolade could be a lock for Sampson.

Sampson will go for his fifth honor this week as the Red Storm head to New Jersey to face Rutgers, January 23 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.