As Baylor’s star transfer Jeremy Roach (20 pts., 4 ast.) faded into a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in double overtime, St. John’s dropped game one of the annual Baha Mar Hoops tournament, 99-98. 

But the Red Storm’s first loss of the 2024-25 campaign could’ve easily been avoided. 

Their first-half performance was an absolute masterclass. From the opening tip, St. John’s appeared primed to upset Head Coach Scott Drew’s stacked Bears roster. 

Behind Zuby Ejiofor (22 pts., 10 reb.) and RJ Luis Jr.’s (16 pts., 6 reb.) 20 combined points in the early going and elite-level three-point shooting from the supporting cast, the Red Storm jumped out to an 18-point advantage. 

As “Let’s Go Johnnies” chants reigned down from the crowd in the Bahamas, it seemed St. John’s was ready to make national headlines again. 

Then came the second half, and with it, a complete breakdown of the fundamentals. 

Whether it was at the charity stripe, boxing out down low or simply taking care of the basketball, the Red Storm excelled at everything besides the simple things. 

Baylor’s Norchad Omier (24 pts., 10 reb.), a target of Head Coach Rick Pitino this past summer, took advantage of the mishaps and showed St. John’s what they had missed out on. 

Despite being listed two inches shorter than Ejiofor, Omier dominated the Red Storm’s captain inside. He contributed four of Baylor’s 16 offensive boards, generating an astounding 22 second-chance points. 

After trailing all night, a Jayden Nunn (12 pts., 8 reb.) jump shot gave the Bears their first lead with 2:30 to play in regulation. As fast as a thought, that massive first-half advantage St. John’s carved out had evaporated.  

That’s when both squad’s biggest enemy Thursday evening revealed itself: the free-throw line. 

Roach had a chance to put the game away but only converted 1-of-2, allowing Kadary Richmond (14 pts., 7 ast.) to slash and score with 6.2 seconds remaining, sending the contest to overtime.  

The Red Storm found itself down as much as five, but a drive and three foul shots from Richmond knotted the score yet again. 

Double overtime, here we came. 

St. John’s had hung in just enough to get to a second extra frame and retook full control down to the final 4.1 seconds. 

Luis rattled in a three. Then Aaron Scott (20 pts., 6 reb.). Then Simeon Wilcher (6 pts., 2 stl). But for every would-be dagger the Red Storm converted, the Bears answered. 

All St. John’s had to do was slam the door shut, and it’d escape the Bahamas with a second-straight quad-one win. But freshman phenom VJ Edgecomb (10 pts., 4 reb.) acted as the resistance. 

While the game clock dripped down, the former Pitino recruit fought through an apparent hamstring injury while fading over Luis to bury a late triple and cut the Red Storm’s lead to two. 

The Hall of Famer burned a timeout to draw up an inbounds play that landed right in Ejiofor’s hands. He was fouled, and just needed to convert 1-of-2 at the line to at worst head into a third overtime period. 

Unfortunately, he missed them both. 

Luis tipped the ball off the rim as it landed in Omier’s hands, but the clock didn’t start until Baylor’s big man had fully corralled it. 

Omier outleted to Roach after gaining what felt like a full second off of the clock error, who promptly sank a game-winning trey at the buzzer to break the hearts of the Johnnie faithful. 

Ballgame. 

The falter can be summed up in four simple stats: 12 missed free throws, 18 turnovers, 16 offensive rebounds conceded and 22 second-chance points allowed. Oh, the brutality.

Now sitting at 4-1, St. John’s gets the loser of No. 11 Tennessee-Virginia in a battle for third place at Baha Mar tomorrow at 7 p.m. EST. 

To access the final box score from St. John’s’ loss to Baylor, click here.