St. John's edges Syracuse in OT to win Empire Classic

St. John's edges Syracuse in OT to win Empire Classic

St. John's edges Syracuse in OT to win Empire Classic

Andre Curbelo scored 23 points as St. John's outlasted former Big East rival Syracuse 76-69 in overtime to win the Empire Classic championship game Tuesday night in New York.

After hitting a tiebreaking free throw to help the Red Storm beat Temple Monday, Curbelo was even better in this one. The Illinois transfer made 9 of 13 shots, handed out six assists and contributed four steals.

Joel Soriano added 19 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double and David Jones contributed seven of his 18 points in overtime as the Red Storm (6-0) overcame two 10-point deficits in the second half and survived shooting 40.3 percent and missing 15 of 22 layups.

Judah Mintz scored 20 points to lead Syracuse (3-2), but Joseph Girard III endured a rough night as the Orange shot 38.8 percent. After scoring a career-high 31 points in Monday's overtime win against Richmond, Girard shot 1 of 10 and was held to four points.

Jesse Edwards added 18 points, including the tying layup with 98 seconds left in regulation that forged a 65-65 deadlock. The game reached overtime when Jones misfired badly on a 3-point try with 11 seconds left as the shot clock expired and Syracuse's Symir Torrence missed a jumper at the buzzer.

Neither team scored in overtime until Jones hit a spinning layup with 2:48 remaining. After Edwards sank two free throws with 2:28 left, Jones hit a jumper with 2:11 remaining and Soriano hit two free throws with 1:27 left.

Curbelo scored his final points when Chris Bell was called for goaltending with 73 seconds left to make it 73-67. Jones then finished it off when Curbelo found him for a corner 3 with 44 seconds left.

Mintz scored 16 points in the first half and his three-point play with one second remaining put Syracuse up 35-29. Girard's only basket put Syracuse up 47-37 with 16:02 left, and Bell's 3-pointer made it 50-40 less than a minute later before St. John's ripped off a 16-2 run.

--Field Level Media