St. John’s College Prep holds off Mustang in opener

St. John’s College Prep (D.C.) bent Monday, but it didn’t break.

Despite leading by as much as 12 points, the Cadets allowed the Mustang (Okla.) Broncos to make a charge late in the game.

The Broncos managed to tie the contest but never gained a lead, however, as St. John’s made some clutch shots down the stretch to seal a 66-57 victory over Mustang in the first round of the Beach Ball Classic.

“That’s a tough, strong team,” Cadets coach Sean McAloon said of Mustang. “I was telling someone on the way out, ‘That’s a team full of men right there. We’re not built like them; we’re not as tall, we’re not as wide.’ To only lose the rebound battle by five shows the kids really battled.”

After a dunk by Curtis Haywood cut Mustang’s deficit to 1 with a little over three minutes to play, St. John’s Anthony Cowan made a layup to put the Cadets up 55-52.

Richard Njoku then made a free throw to put St. John’s up by four, and Cadets senior Jeffrey Dowtin fed a nice pass to Njoku, who made a layup to put the Cadets ahead 58-52. Cowan then nailed four late free throws, and Dowtin hit two as the Cadets held on to win.

“They were overplaying a lot at the end. [Cowan] made a good call and set a ball screen on Jeff and dumped it down to [Njoku] a few times and he’s not a big scorer for us but he came up big. That’s the type of trust this team has; different guys can step up at different times.”

Cowan, a Maryland signee, finished with a game-high 23 points to go along with eight rebounds, and Dowtin, a Rhode Island committment, scored 21 for St. John’s.

“If you have good guards, you can win games,” McAloon said. “Anthony and Jeffrey are both fantastic, unselfish players. They make big-time shots and big time plays all the time and they both stepped up tonight. They just play the right way and it makes my job easier.”

Curtis Haywood had 20 points and hit some big shots to keep Mustang in the game late. Meanwhile, Jakolby Long – an Iowa State signee – struggled Monday, going 4-for-15 and finished with 13 points and five turnovers. York Benjamin added six points and 16 rebounds for the Broncos, who play Myrtle Beach in the consolation bracket Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

McAloon is appreciative to participate in the Beach Ball Classic, and his team will be back on the hardwood Tuesday as they take on Mater Dei (Calif.) at 8:45 p.m.

“Whoever we get while we’re here is going to be a fantastic opponent. We love this tournament because our league is a monster,” McAloon said. “We go home and play two teams that are constantly ranked in the top 25. So this is great prep for us; if we can make a mark for ourselves, great. But we’re really just trying to test ourselves for February and see where we stand against some great programs.”

This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 10:05 PM with the headline "St. John’s College Prep holds off Mustang in opener."