Labaron Philon produced another strong performance with 25 points as No. 15 Alabama took control late in the first half and withstood a comeback attempt by fifth-ranked St. John’s in an impressive 103-96 victory Saturday afternoon in New York.
Philon made 10 of 17 shots and had help from two players returning from injury. Aden Holloway added 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting after sitting out the season opener with a wrist injury, and LaTrell Wrightsell Jr. finished with 17 after also missing the season opener with a finger injury.
Taylor Bol Bowen added 17 as Alabama shot 48.1%.
Zuby Ejiofor scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half but the Red Storm had a 12-game winning streak at MSG stopped. Bryce Hopkins added 19 while Ian Jackson and Oziyah Sellers contributed 14 apiece as the Red Storm shot 49.2% but missed 12 of their 40 free throws.
Alabama surged ahead again, taking a 37-30 lead on an easy layup by Bol Bowen with 5:51 remaining, resulting in a timeout for St. John’s. After the timeout, the Red Storm scored eight straight points in 61 seconds for a 38-37 lead, but the Crimson Tide grabbed a 48-40 lead on a 3 by Philon with 1:18 left and held a 53-44 lead when Holloway buried an open three-pointer right before halftime.
After Bol Bowen scored for a 60-52 lead, Ejiofor, Jackson and Sellers sank layups to cut the lead to 60-58 a little over three minutes into the second. Alabama took its first double-digit lead when Wrightsell sank a trey for a 69-58 lead with 15:18 left and held a 74-64 lead after Bol Bowen split a pair at the line about three minutes later.
St John’s countered with a 17-6 run while Ejiofor rested and Joson Sanon’s corner three-pointer put them up 81-80 with 8:13 left.
Alabama continued to provide answers and took a 91-87 lead on Bol Bowen’s dunk with 4:19 remaining before increasing the margin to 95-88 on two free throws by Philon with 2:32 left.
