NEW YORK — St. John’s held serve at home and kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
In a back-and-forth game played before an electric crowd that featured Lou Carnesecca and Chris Mullin sitting courtside at Carnesecca Arena, the Red Storm held off Seton Hall, 85-72, for their fourth win in their last five games.
The reeling Pirates (15-12, 5-10 Big East), who were once ranked as high as No. 19 in the nation, lost their sixth straight and ninth in 11 outings. They were playing without suspended guard Sterling Gibbs, who is sitting out two games for striking Villanova’s Ryan Arcidiacono in the head.
Entering the day, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had St. John’s (18-9, 7-7) as the No. 46 seed in the NCAA Tournament and playing a play-in game against N.C. State.
“We just happy to win this game right now, that’s down the line right now,” St. John’s senior Sir’Dominic Pointer, who went for 22 points and 10 rebounds, said of a potential NCAA bid.
Lunardi later said on ESPN that if St. John’s wins its home games this week against Xavier and Georgetown, “Steve Lavin’s boys are going back to the NCAA Tournament.”
“Every year we’re going to be in the [NCAA] Tournament or we’re going to be in the hunt for the Tournament so we’re doing something we’re supposed to be doing,” Lavin said after the Seton Hall win.
