NEW YORK (AP) — Andre Curbelo scored a career-high 23 points, Joel Soriano and David Jones had double-doubles and St. John’s dominated overtime for a 76-69 win over Syracuse on Tuesday night to capture the Vividseats Empire Classic at the Barclays Center.
Soriano had 19 points, a career-high, and 14 rebounds and Jones 18 and 13 and matched Curbelo’s six assists for the Red Storm (6-0), who edged Temple 78-72 in their Classic opener.
Both teams had shot clock violations in the final minute of regulation before the Orange missed a contested shot at the buzzer to leave the game tied at 65. The offensive woes continued in the extra sessions before Jones made a layup midway through.
Jesse Edwards quickly got those back with a pair of free throws but St. John’s reeled off six-straight points, which was too much for Syracuse to overcome. The Orange went 1 of 4 from the field, missed the front end of a one-and-one and had four turnovers in the extra session.
Four starters scored in double figures for Syracuse (3-2), led by Judah Mintz with 20. Edwards had 18, Chris Bell 12 and Benny Williams 11 with 10 rebounds. Joe Girard had a miserable night with four points on 1-of-10 shooting a night after scoring 31 in an overtime win over Richmond in the opening game of the classic.
Williams had five points and Mintz four in a 9-0 run that gave Syracuse a 19-8 lead midway through the first half. The Red Storm cut the deficit to three on a Curbelo 3-pointer with six seconds left but Mintz converted a three-point play with a second to go and the Orange led 35-29.
Syracuse got the lead back to 10 but St. John’s went on a 16-2 for a 56-52 lead when Montez Mathis made two free throws at 8:17.
Syracuse was 3 of 16 from 3-point range and shot 39%. St. Johnson was at 40% and 7 of 23 from 3-point range.
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