In an instant, the Carnesecca Arena crowd turned from anxious to jubilant. Groans were replaced by a roar.
Posh Alexander has that effect on the St. John’s fan base. Thursday night, his late hustle plays prevented an upset.
The sophomore point guard’s steal, save and two clutch free throws ensured that MAAC contender Monmouth didn’t have an opportunity to force overtime in the final seconds of the Johnnies’ 88-83 victory.
“I was just thinking about winning the game,” said Alexander, who scored a team-high 21 points.
After a 14-point lead had been cut to two, creating nervous energy throughout the building, Dylan Addae-Wusu stepped to the free-throw line with 14.3 seconds left. He made the first and missed the second. But just as Nikkei Rutty was coming down with the ball, the pesky Alexander stripped him, and threw the ball off the forward’s leg before landing out of bounds.
Then, as St. John’s flirted with a turnover on the inbounds, Alexander sprinted to control the ball in the lane and was fouled. He has a knack for being in the right place at the right time.
“He’s been doing that forever. It’s a special trait that not a lot of people have,” junior star Julian Champagnie (16 points, five assists) said. “We’re fortunate enough to have him, and have him make those kinds of plays for us, especially when we need them.”
Want more news and exclusive insights from Zach? Become a member of Post Sports+ and join his Inside St. John’s text-message conversation.
It was just the latest example of St. John’s (7-2) finding a new and inventive way to avoid that dreaded résumé-denting bad loss while giving its fans heart palpitations. The Johnnies have dug deep holes against huge underdogs. They’ve blown big leads. This, however, was a better performance than those games. There was balance (five players scored in double figures), a significant advantage in the paint (46-32) and fewer turnovers (12).
“I feel like we have more of those [good] stretches now, those stretches we go up and push the [lead],” Champagnie said. “We kind of get lost in whatever it is. Now our next step is to get there and get over the jump and finish teams.”
The poor finish somewhat marred an otherwise improved effort against the best team St. John’s has faced not named Kansas or Indiana. The Hawks, led by Seton Hall transfer Shavar Reynolds (25 points), entered riding a seven-game winning streak, with road victories over Cincinnati, St. Joseph’s and Princeton.
Monmouth trailed by 14 in the second half and eight with 1:22 left, but never lost contact. And when St. John’s got sloppy down the stretch with turnovers and missed free throws, the Hawks (7-2) were right there, a rebound away from shooting for the tie.
Alexander, however, wouldn’t allow it. St. John’s escaped again.
“That’s that ‘it’ factor people talk about,” coach Mike Anderson said. “Not afraid of the moment. He just leaves his heart and guts out on the floor, and it just trickles throughout our basketball team.”
St. John’s hosted Christ the King sophomore guard Dwayne Pierce for the game, a source said. It was the third game he has attended this year.