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While a winter storm front begins to trek across the northeast, it was the Red Storm causing havoc at Madison Square Garden for the Fordham Rams, as a torrid shooting performance by St. John's downed the Rams, 104-58, on Saturday afternoon at the 2013 Advanced Auto Parts Holiday Festival.
The loss puts Fordham's record at 4-3 on the season, while St. John's improved to 6-2.
St. John's hit on all cylinders in the first half, connecting on 22 of 25 shots to start the game, good for 88% from the field, and finished the half at 78.6%.
"If they (St. John's) shoot the ball like that, they're going to be a hard team to beat for a lot of people," said head coach
Tom Pecora following the game.
The Red Storm opened the game with the first seven points on a three-pointer by D'Angelo Harrison and consecutive lay-ups by Phil Greene and JaKarr Sampson. After a timeout, Fordham responded with an 8-0 run of its own.
Jon Severe and
Mandell Thomas each hit a three-pointer, while
Branden Frazier knocked down a pair of free throws.
The Rams stayed right with the Red Storm in the opening seven minutes, trailing by one, 15-14, following a three-point basket from
Bryan Smith with 12:26 left.
St. John's then turned up the heat with nine straight points and put together a 22-6 burst, which was capped off with a dunk by Sampson, extending the lead to 37-20. The Red Storm finished the half ahead by 20 points, 52-32, connecting on 22 of 28 shots in the first half.
The second half was not much better for the Rams, as the Red Storm hit six of their nine three-pointers in the period, while Fordham made just 1-of-13 from long range.
St. John's kept the Rams in check defensively, with Fordham netting just eight field goals in the period, and held Fordham's leading scorer, Severe, to 1-for-21 shooting for the game.
The Red Storm would win the game, 104-58, which marked St. John's first 100-point game since 1999, and the first time that Fordham has allowed 100 points, since January 25, 2012, against Richmond.
For Fordham, Thomas was the Rams' leading scorer with 15 points, followed by Frazier with 13 points and four rebounds.
Travion Leonard netted eight points off the bench and tied a career-high with nine rebounds, while Severe added nine points, six boards, and four assists.
St. John's had five players finish in double figures, led by Orlando Sanchez with 19 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while Sir'Dominic Pointer was one rebound shy of a triple-double with 12 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds.
The Rams are back in action on Tuesday, December 10
th, when Fordham travels to Hamilton, N.Y., for a match-up with Colgate, beginning at 7:00 PM.
