Demary makes key steal to lift Georgia past No. 22 St. John's

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Asa Newell scored 18 points, Silas Demary Jr. made a key steal in the final seconds and Georgia beat No. 22 St. John's 66-63 on Sunday.

After a timeout with 10 seconds remaining, RJ Luis Jr. got past midcourt and then Demary poked the ball away from behind. Somto Cyril gathered the loose ball and passed it to Demary who dribbled out the clock.

Demary finished with 15 points and 10 turnovers for Georgia (6-1).

Zuby Ejiofor led St. John’s (5-2) with 22 points and eight rebounds. Aaron Scott added 14 points and Luis scored 13.

Takeaways

St. John's entered the week with a 4-0 record before losing twice in four days. The Red Storm dropped a 99-98 double-overtime contest to No. 13 Baylor on Thursday when Ejiofor missed two free throws with 4.1 seconds left and Jeremy Roach sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it.

Key moment

Georgia had three players foul out, leading to 28 free-throw attempts by St. John's. Georgia forward Dylan James, who played just 20 minutes, came off the bench and blocked Simeon Wilcher’s jumper from the free-throw line and grabbed an offensive rebound while being fouled at the other end with 1:03 left. James, a 50% free-throw shooter, completed the three-point play for a 61-57 lead. St. John’s missed eight straight shots down the stretch.

Key stat

Georgia struggled with St. John's defensive pressure, turning it over 24 times to go with 24 made shots. St. John’s forced Georgia's last turnover with just over 30 seconds remaining, but Wilcher dribbled out of bounds to give the ball back with 30.3 left leading to free throws by Demary.

Up next

St. John's returns home to play Harvard on Saturday.

Georgia hosts Jacksonville on Saturday.

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