Sports

Johnnies have eyes on prize

St. John’s began the NIT talking about the benefit the postseason tournament could have for next year.

Now, after Tuesday’s thrilling win in Philadelphia over St. Joseph’s at the buzzer, the fifth-seeded Red Storm aren’t nearly as focused about the future.

“We’re trying to win the whole tournament,” freshman center Chris Obekpa said in advance of today’s second-round meeting at No. 1 seed Virginia. “We were disappointed that we didn’t make the NCAA Tournament, so we’re trying to win this.”

The only local team still in action, St. John’s (17-15) needs two more wins to get back home for the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

It won’t be easy, winning in Charlottesville. Virginia (22-11) knocked off No. 8 Norfolk State, 67-56, in the first round, defeated NCAA Tournament teams Duke, North Carolina State, North Carolina and Wisconsin during an up-and-down regular season, and has won its last 10 games at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers are potent from the perimeter — they shoot over 38 percent from 3-point range — and are led by the forward tandem of Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell.

“Now the challenge is we have to go on the road in another tough environment against a well-coached team in Virginia,” St. John’s coach Steve Lavin said. “They could have very easily been in the NCAA Tournament; when you look at their resume, they were probably one of the first four teams out. The matchup will present another opportunity to do something special.”

The 63-61 victory over St. Joseph’s, which snapped a five-game losing streak, was special in its own right. St. John’s trailed by six points at halftime and was on the verge of its season ending, but ended up prevailing on Sir’Dominic Pointer’s buzzer-beating step-back jump shot at the horn from the left corner.

“It wasn’t until the other night at St. Joseph’s that we were finally able to reap the benefits and experience the joy of winning after a tough stretch,” Lavin said. “It was important for the team’s morale and those things are critical when you are working with young players. The hope is, when we get to next year, we’ll be better positioned to win some of those games that we let slip away this year.”

Obekpa joked that the win “messed with my heart,” because the margin between victory and defeat was so close. It certainly changed the team’s mindset after a difficult couple of weeks.

“When we’re losing, everybody was down, but that win helped with our spirit,” Obekpa said.

zbraziller@nypost.com