St. John’s vs. VCU, 2016 Battle 4 Atlantis final score: Rams narrowly defeat St. John’s

Last season, every game St. John’s played was about finding some sort of silver lining to take away and apply to the program moving forward.

Friday night ended up being one of those games, as the Red Storm fell, 75-69, to the VCU Rams to fall to 0-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

No one expected Atlantis to be easy for the Red Storm, having to play Michigan State and then either Baylor or VCU in the first two days, but once the Red Storm opened up with an 18-5 lead making all seven of their first shots, it seemed like the Red Storm could pull off a potential upset.

The Red Storm led 41-39 at the half, but VCU’s guards Jonathan Williams and JaQuan Lewis proved to be too much for St. John’s to handle, combining for 22 of the Rams’ second half points.

Shamorie Ponds and Marcus LoVett both had strong outings for St. John’s, once again. Ponds led the team with 18 points, while LoVett led in rebounding and assists with seven and five, respectively.

The Red Storm will be back in action Friday against the loser of Thursday night’s LSU/Old Dominion game.