Providence Loses to St John’s on Another Buzzer Beater

The Providence College men’s basketball team was defeated by the No. 15/14 St. John’s Red Storm (19-3, 10-1 BIG EAST), 68-66, on Saturday, February 1 at the Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. The Friars moved to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in BIG EAST play. The Friars trailed by 19 points (53-34) with 10 minutes remaining and went on a 32-13 run to tie the game at 66 with 33 seconds left. However, SJU’s Khadary Richmond hit a jumper with three seconds left to give the Red Storm the win. Graduate guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim (South Orange, N.J.) led the Friar offense with 27 points on a career-high eight triples. Abdur-Rahim’s eight threes marked the most for any BIG EAST player in a game this season. Senior guard Bensley Joseph (Arlington, Mass.) anchored the team with a career-best 12 rebounds and seven assists. Forty-four of the Friars’ 66 points tonight came from the bench.
“Disappointing outcome,” Head Coach Kim English said. “I thought it was a great BIG EAST game. Our guys fought hard and showed great resolve. We got to get back, get better and get ready for another hard matchup next week.”

FIRST HALF:
The Red Storm opened the half with six unanswered points. Jayden Pierre (Elizabeth, N.J.) kicked off the Friars’ scoring with a pull-up jumper.
The Red Storm entered a roughly four-minute scoring drought. PC trailed 6-4 through the first six minutes of action.
Abdur-Rahim highlighted a 10-2 run from the Friars with back-to-back triples that gave Providence its first lead of the game, 10-8 (11:45 mark).
The Johnnies faced offensive difficulties, committing five turnovers and making just one of their last 17 shots with eight minutes to go.
The Red Storm regained the lead with a 7-0 surge in the final minutes of the half. The Friars trailed 25-21 entering the locker-room.
Abdur-Rahim was the first player to reach double-digit scoring with 11 points on a 4-6 effort from the field and 3-5 from three.
19 of Providence’s 21 first-half points came off the bench. St. John’s had three.
SECOND HALF:
St. John’s started the second half by extending its lead to 29-21. The Friars trailed 29-21 entering the first media timeout (17:31).
Oswin Erhunmwunse (Benin City, Nigeria) opened the Friars’ second-half scoring with a three-point play after converting a layup and drawing a foul.
With 13:57 on the clock, The Red Storm jumped out to a 42-28 lead, capping off an 11-0 run.
The Friars found a spark in the final five minutes with a 13-4 run in the span of two minutes. PC brought the score within nine, 59-50 (4:59).
PC continued to keep the momentum on its side as Abdur-Rahim hit his eighth triple which marked a new career-high for the graduate student. The Friars trailed by one with 2:19 remaining.
With 33 seconds left, Joseph flushed a three-pointer from deep to tie the score at 66. SJU’s Kadary Richmond answered with a jumper to retake the lead for the Red Storm. Bensley attempted a last-second shot from half court for the win but fell short. The Friars were defeated, 68-66.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Two players finished in double figures for the Friars: Abdur-Rahim (27) and Pierre (11).
Forty-four of the Friars’ 66 points (66.7%) came off the bench.
The Friars controlled the rebound battle by a margin of seven (39-32).
Abdur-Rahim set a new career-high with eight threes. He finished with a game-high 27 points.
Joseph finished with a career-best 12 rebounds and seven assists.
SJU’s Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis Jr. combined for 43 points.
NOTES:
PC has now posted a 133-288 mark all-time versus top-25 teams, including a 0-4 mark this season.
The Friars have now registered a 58-68 mark all-time versus St. John’s.
The Friars are now 9-7 in their last 15 games versus St. John’s
St. John’s is the Friars’ second most common opponent with 125 games played against the Red Storm (URI-134, St. John’s-126).
The last time a Friar had eight threes in a game was Feb. 2, 2005 when Donnie McGrath made nine vs. Virginia.
UP NEXT:
The Friars return to the Amica Mutual Pavilion to take on the Creighton Bluejays on Wednesday, Feb. 5 in a Pink-Out Friartown matchup in Providence, R.I.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. The game will air live on FS1.