St. John's holds off Hofstra in teams' first meeting in 14 years

St. John’s led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but Hofstra refused to stop fighting.

Hofstra guard Jaquan Carlos hit a layup with 50 seconds left to cut the Red Storm's lead to three. With the shot clock dwindling on the ensuing St. John’s possession, the Red Storm turned to guard Daniss Jenkins, who was having a massive all-around game. Jenkins rose up over Carlos and nailed a deep two-point jumper with 24.5 seconds left to give the Red Storm a five-point lead.

Jenkins finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and zero turnovers as St. John’s beat the Pride, 84-79, to close out its non-conference slate in a home game at UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon.

“[Jenkins] carried us on his back to win the game,” coach Rick Pitino said. “Every time we had to have a score so they wouldn’t take the lead, he did it. He’s a great guard, great competitor.”

Jenkins scored 15 of the final 23 points for St. John’s (9-4).

“That’s my goal every night, to get in the lane and make plays for my teammates,” he said. “It just so happened tonight, it just opened up — the lane opened up — and I had a layup.”

Hofstra guard Tyler Thomas, the nation’s sixth-leading scorer at 22.1 points per game heading into the game, had 24 points and nine rebounds. He picked up his fourth foul with 12:26 left but played the final 9:47 and hit three three-pointers in that span. Darlinstone Dubar also was crucial in Hofstra’s comeback bid, scoring 15 of his 23 points in the second half.

It was the first meeting between the two local teams in just over 14 years. Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton said he would “absolutely” like to see the game played annually.

Both teams were without a big man Saturday as injuries sidelined St. John’s forward Chris Ledlum (ankle) and Hofstra forward Jacco Fritz (back).

In only his third game for St. John’s, UMass transfer guard RJ Luis started in place of Ledlum and posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“[Luis] had to learn all the plays in two days, which is not easy to do,” Pitino said. “ . . .  He did a lot of things that would drive a coach crazy tonight, but he’s as good a talent as I’ve had.”

Forward Joel Soriano — St. John’s leading scorer and rebounder at 17.7 points and 10.8 rebounds per game entering Saturday — had 14 points and four rebounds. Pitino said “he didn’t warm up great” and had “sore legs” but is otherwise healthy. Guard Jordan Dingle scored 15 points and guard Nahiem Alleyne had 10 points off the bench.

St. John’s led 36-32 at halftime after a first half that featured eight lead changes and five ties. Hofstra never led in the second half but cut its deficit to three five  times in the final 4:09. Thomas hit a three-pointer with two seconds left to make it 82-79, but Jenkins then sank two free throws to clinch it.

The Red Storm’s win came one week after they nearly knocked off No. 5 UConn on the road in an eventual 69-65 loss. St. John’s, which is 1-1 in the Big East, has three days until conference play resumes against Butler at Carnesecca Arena on Tuesday. With strictly Big East games remaining, it will be the first time most St. John’s players go through the conference gantlet.

“We’re just gonna have to stay tough, stay ready, because anybody can come out there and beat us,” said Alleyne, a UConn transfer who was on the Huskies’ national championship-winning team last season. “This conference is tough.”

When asked if he thinks Ledlum will play Tuesday, Pitino replied, “I don’t think so.” Ledlum was seen shooting on the court after the game and said “that’s the plan” when he was asked about playing Tuesday.

Hofstra (7-6) will begin CAA play Thursday against Charleston at home.

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.