The Golden Eagles rebound nicely to close out the season on a high note.
With Saturday’s game between the Marquette Golden Eagles and the St. John’s Red Storm in hand now, the regular season for the Big East is now done and dusted. That’s all folks! We now pivot to the Big East Tournament and all the wild wonders that postseason play brings along with it.
As for this game, it was an excellent way to close out the regular season. Both teams hit the floor with something to prove. Marquette looked to end their season on a high note. St. John’s on the other hand were looking to finish the regular season strong with back-to-back wins, fresh off of a season sweep of Xavier.
Sadly that would not be in the cards. Marquette would wrap up the season with an 85-77 win. Overall it was a tight affair for much of the game. It felt like Marquette was also on the cusp of breaking away for much of the game, only for St. John’s to keep them somewhat close.
The difference-maker for the Golden Eagles was Justin Lewis. Lewis had himself a massive game with 28 points to cap off what has been a great season. He also tied the game-leading mark for rebounds with seven on the game with teammate Kur Kuath. Kuath added 12 points and Darryl Morsell, on Senior Night, put up 20 points.
Speaking of St. John’s, this loss puts a pin on what has been an up-and-down season. The hope going into the year was that the Red Storm was going to turn a corner. But instead, after their nonconference slate, a cycle of trading wins for losses without much consistency followed. The program might need to head back to the drawing board to get out of this rut or at least figure out where to go from here.
Dylan Addae-Wusu led the way with 19 points on 8-10 shooting. Julian Champagnie finished with 15 points, Aaron Wheeler scored 11, and Esahia Nyiwe with 10 points. Posh Alexander scored zero points but did lead the game with nine assists. Joel Soriano led the team in rebounds with six on the game though this was not a particularly strong rebounding game for either team.
The focus for both teams shifts to next Wednesday as the Big East Tournament beckons on the horizon.