St. John's vs. UCF Advocare Invitational final score: Red Storm defeat Knights for third-place finish

Despite scoring their lowest scoring output in a game since 2013, the St. John’s Red Storm picked up a 46-43 win over the UCF Knights to finish third place in the Advocare Invitational.

Shamorie Ponds and Marcus LoVett both had their share of struggles against the UCF zone, as the Red Storm’s two leading scorers on the season went a combined 6-31 from the field for 18 points. LoVett led the team with 12 points. While he wasn’t his usual self on offense, Ponds didn’t let it take him out of the flow of the game, as he led St. John’s with 10 rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

To the Red Storm’s credit, they did enough to win the game, as UCF shot just 26.4% from the field. Both teams looked as if they had played two other games in the past couple days, which explains the sluggishness and lethargy. St. John’s got out to a 10-0 lead at the first media timeout and then scored 36 points over the game’s final 36 minutes.

Chad Brown led the Knights with 12 points. UCF big man Tacko Fall had eight points and eight rebounds before fouling out.

A third place finish in this tournament is a positive sign for St. John’s, as they improved to 5-1 on the year and have six days off before facing Sacred Heart at Carnesecca Arena Saturday.