The St. John's Red Storm are thankful to have survived Oregon State on Thanksgiving in the first round of the AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando.
For the first 30 minutes, it was a scene all too familiar in recent years for the Red Storm. Despite a scrappy defense forcing a total of 21 Beaver turnovers, the offense appeared disjointed at times.
However, down the stretch St. John's was able to get enough offense primarily from Marcus LoVett (18 pts) and Shamorie Ponds (a game high 26 pts).
Oregon State had a solid lead throughout most of the game, including a 61-51 advantage with 9:57 to play.