NEW YORK  – The No. 18/17 St. John’s Men’s Basketball team mounted a second half comeback to secure a 72-69 victory over Georgetown on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden on Senior Night.
 
Trailing by 12 with just over 14 minutes to go, the Red Storm engineered a game-changing 25-9 run en route to its seventh-straight victory at The World’s Most Famous Arena. St. John’s dished out 22 assists on 26 made field goals, marking the first time in four years the Johnnies handed out 22 or more helpers in back-to-back games.
 
Coming off a triple-double performance in a win over Villanova on Saturday, senior forward Zuby Ejiofor delivered another stellar effort finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks during his final regular season home game. The big man shot 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the field, which marked a season-high in made field goals.
 
Joson Sanon played a pivotal role in the second half surge, pouring in all 15 of his points in the latter stanza. The sophomore guard hit timely shots during the run, including three 3-pointers to reach his highest scoring total in BIG EAST play to go with six boards.
 
Red Storm point guard Dylan Darling chipped in 12 points, three assists and a season-high four steals on Tuesday. Dillon Mitchell added six rebounds and six assists in his final regular season home game at MSG.
 

With the victory, St. John’s has captured 10 wins at The World’s Most Famous Arena for the second consecutive season. The Johnnies reached the 10-win threshold in the regular season for the first time since 1951-52, when the Johnnies advanced to the NCAA Tournament Championship game.

 

The Red Storm grabbed its 11th straight victory over its longtime BIG EAST rivalry, marking the program’s longest ever winning streak against the Hoyas (13-17, 5-14 BIG EAST).

 

Prior to the game, the St. John’s men’s basketball program honored five players and eight student managers on Senior Night. Zuby Ejiofor, Bryce Hopkins, Dillon Mitchell, Oziyah Sellers and Handje Tamba were recognized alongside their families for their contributions to the program and University community.

 

In the early going Ejiofor recorded the first field goal for the Red Storm unloading a two-handed jam off the feed from Hopkins. After Georgetown took a slight advantage, Darling scored eight of St. John’s next 10 points, including a pair of triples to retake the edge, 15-14, at the 12:16 mark.

 

The Hoyas rolled their lead out to six before Sellers responded with a make from long-range. Georgetown led by seven before the Johnnies answered once again with a vicious one-handed throwdown from Ejiofor to cut the deficit to five, 27-22. Over the final minutes of the opening half, the two sides traded baskets as Georgetown went into halftime with a 34-26 advantage.

 

In the second half, Sellers’ layup and Ejiofor’s dunk quicky brought the Red Storm within four, 34-30. However, Georgetown responded by expanding its lead to as many as 12 with 14 minutes remaining.

 

St. John’s climbed back into the game after Sanon cashed in on a pair of clutch 3-pointers and Mitchell soared for a putback dunk to cut the deficit to four, 52-48 with 11 minutes to go. Three minutes later, Ejiofor came up with a huge second chance bucket finishing through contact to make it a two-point game, 55-53, at the under-8 media timeout.

 

St. John’s continued to will its way back into the contest as Darling swiped a steal and finished on the fastbreak to give the Johnnies their first lead since the 12:10 mark of the opening half. Sanon then knocked down a long two-point jumper to send the MSG crowd into an eruption forcing a Hoyas timeout, 61-57, with 6:17 to play.

 

Georgetown got back within one two more times. However, Sanon responded on both occasions with crucial buckets to keep the Red Storm in front, including his lay-up that brought the Red Storm lead to five, 70-65, with 1:30 to go.  In the closing moments with Georgetown trailing by three, Jeremiah Williams made a bucket through the contact to earn a chance to tie at the charity stripe. The free throw was off the mark as Hopkins collected the defensive board with 16 seconds on the clock. Hopkins made both at the line to bring the edge back to three, 72-69. The Red Storm preserved the lead halting the Hoyas chance to knot the score as time expired.

 

St. John’s will close its regular season on Friday when it travels to Seton Hall for a 9 p.m. tip-off at Prudential Center on FS1. With a win in Newark, the Red Storm will clinch a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship for the second year in a row.