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From the Time Machine: St. John's long history against the Wagner Seahawks

Traditionally, Wagner has not enjoyed success against St. John's. Let's take a trip down memory lane to see how the team from Queens has handled the little school from Staten Island.

By Will Hernandez
Nate Shron

St. John’s (0-1) is back in Queens after its season-opening 86-75 loss to Wisconsin. The squad is set to start a string of 11 straight games in New York City - where they will play at the Barclays Center, Carnesecca Arena, or Madison Square Garden.

St. John’s traditionally hosts a series of contests against other metro New York schools; this season is no different.The local portion of its schedule begins on Friday against the Wagner Seahwawks (1-1) at Carnesecca Arena. Wagner has lost to Penn State and has defeated Division II Chestnut Hill - the school that walk-on Khadim Ndiaye played for before St. John's.

The two schools have played each other sporadically since 1935 and the Red Storm owns a 15-2 series advantage. Wagner last won against St. John’s in 1956.

St. John’s dominates these meetings , averaging 84 points a game. The Johnnies – then the Redmen - once scored 102 points against Wagner way back in 1986. The squads last met in 2010 when St. John’s beat Wagner 69-61 at Carnesecca Arena. Three recent games of note:

December 1, 2010 - St. John’s 69, Wagner 61

[Rumble recap]

D.J. Kennedy scored a team-high 20 points off the bench as St. John’s greatly benefitted from Wagner’s poor ball-handling and won its fifth straight game of the season.

Wagner committed 21 turnovers which St. John’s converted into 21 points. St. John’s led 36-36 at halftime, but Wagner used a 13-5 run in the second half to eventually pull within four points with 6:28 left in the game. The Seahawks never could quite get over the hump as St. John’s converted 7-of-8 free throws the rest of the game.

Justin Brownlee scored 17 points while Dwight Hardy chipped in 10 for St. John’s, who shot only 36% in this game.

Wagner’s Tyler Murray led all scorers with 21 points.

November 20, 2004 - St. John’s 79, Wagner 68

This game marked a new era for St. John’s men’s basketball as Norm Roberts made his debut as head coach.

St. John’s was coming off a dark stretch of its history when Roberts was hired. He was viewed as a coach who would help transition the Red Storm to better times coming off a 6-21 campaign during 2003-2004 season and multiple scandals that rocked the program.

Guard Daryll Hill scored a game-high 20 points and had help from freshman Dexter Gray, who contributed 17 points. Forward Lamont Hamilton scored 13 points as St. John’s raced to a 43-27 halftime lead.

Wagner eventually trimmed the deficit to 54-50 with 12 minutes left in the game, but St. John’s used a 7-1 run to extend its lead back into double digits. Joey Mundweiler scored a team-high 16 points for Wagner.

December 6, 1986 - St. John’s 102, Wagner 69

This was a special time in St. John’s history and it showed throughout the season in wins like this one.

Despite a squad with now-historic St. John’s players, however, the Redmen only led by five points at halftime shooting a dismal 39.4% in the first half. St. John’s used a 19-6 run early in the second half to tame the Seahawks. Overall, the team shot 72.2% in the second half to cruise to the win.

The Johnnies’ Willie Glass scored a game-high 30 points, 15 of which came in the second half on 7-of-9 shooting. Glass surpassed 1,000 points in his career during the game. Shelton Jones scored 18 points while Mark Jackson contributed 17 points.

Wagner’s Terrance Bailey, who led the nation in scoring the previous season, finished with a game-high 29 points.

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