Sports

St. John’s season ends in second round of NIT

St. John’s stay in the NIT summed up its inconsistent roller-coaster of a season.

It began with a dramatic victory at the buzzer and ended with a disappointing road loss.

The fifth-seeded Red Storm’s 68-50 defeat at No. 1 Virginia in the second round of the postseason tournament capped an unpredictable year for Steve Lavin’s young club, which included victories over two ranked foes, a late-season five-game losing streak that eliminated its NCAA Tournament hopes, the suspension of star guard D’Angelo Harrison and year-long absence of forward Orlando Sanchez because of an NCAA decision regarding his eligibility, which was eventually overturned.

“We faced a lot of adversity,” sophomore Phil Greene, who scored a team-high 18 points, said in a phone interview. “We’re going to grow from it.”

St. John’s (17-16) struggled from the get-go against Virginia as sophomore Sir’Dominic Pointer, who hit the game-winning shot in the opening-round win over St. Joseph’s, and freshman JaKarr Sampson landed in foul trouble. The Cavaliers (23-11), arguably the top team not to reach the NCAA Tournament with wins over Wisconsin, Duke and North Carolina, raced out to a 24-11 lead and moved their home win streak to 11 games.

“Extending our season with the opportunity to participate in the NIT was a valuable experience for our young team,” Lavin said. “This season served as an important building block in continuing our efforts to elevate the St. John’s basketball into a sustainable winner.”

The Johnnies entire roster is expected to return, and it will receive a boost from Sanchez, sharpshooting Harvard transfer Max Hooper and forward God’s Gift Achiuwa, coming off a red-shirt season.

Greene described the year as one “with a lot of ups and downs,” from the on-court performance to Harrison’s suspension, Sanchez’s ineligibility and Lavin losing his father, Cap, and missing two games as a result.

“I think we can be very good and be a very dangerous team [next year], just learning from this year and having the experience,” Greene said. “Our sophomores are going to be juniors, our freshmen [are going to be] sophomores. Having Gift and Orlando, a full roster, we’re going to be a team to be reckoned with.”

“We’re just going to get better,” he added. “We were close this year. Next year we’re going to make an even bigger jump.”

zbraziller@nypost.com