St. John's upsets No. 13 Butler
Freshman guard Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points, including four free throws in the final 9.1 seconds, and St. John's upset No. 13 Butler 76-73 on Thursday night in the Big East opener for both teams in New York.
The win ended Butler's four-game winning streak in the series.
The Red Storm (7-7, 1-0) stayed close with the Bulldogs (11-2, 0-1) and finally took a lead at 72-71 on a free throw by Malik Ellison with 14.1 seconds left.
St. John's kept the ball on the second miss and Ponds was fouled. He made two free throws before Tyler Lewis of Butler did the same with 6.7 seconds left. Ponds added two more with 6.2 seconds to go. Kelan Martin of Butler let a shot go from half court at the buzzer that hit the rim.
Bashir Ahmed added 19 points for the Red Storm.
Tyler Wideman had 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting for the Bulldogs.
Rathan-Mayes joined his father, Tharon Mayes, as the school's first father-son duo to each score 1,000 points in their careers. Mayes played for the Seminoles from 1988-90 and had 1,260 points over 77 games.
“It feels amazing. When I committed to Florida State, I wanted to do something special in honor of my dad,” said Rathan-Mayes, who has 1,019 points in 79 games. “... It means the world to me.
“After the game I went and gave him the biggest hug and I cried because he means so much to me. He's been there for me all my life and it just means a lot to be able to make him proud.”