Sports

St. John’s falls at buzzer in Norm’s likely finale

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — If last night was Norm Roberts’ closing argument to remain St. John’s head basketball coach, his players delivered moving testimony.

The Red Storm fought and scrapped but came up just short as Memphis’ Wesley Witherspoon hit an off-balance lay-up as time expired to hand the Johnnies a brutal 73-71 loss in the first round of the NIT.

The loss ended the Red Storm’s season and possibly Roberts’ six-year run as head coach. Last week, The Post reported that Roberts would be fired at season’s end.

‘I don’t know,” Roberts said when asked if he thought he would be back. “That’s up to the administration and them. But I know one thing — our team got better.

“We’ve got great kids, and the job I was told to do or asked to do when I came here was improve this program. There’s no doubt we have done that. There’s no doubt we’ve got a chance to be very, very good next year.”

St. John’s athletic director Chris Monasch watched the game from the scorer’s table, a few feet from Roberts’ coaching box. After the game, Monasch would say little about Roberts’ future.

“We’ll evaluate it in the next few days,” he said.

Roberts’ players gave him everything they had last night, but Memphis matched them every step of the way.

St. John’s senior Anthony Mason Jr., a Memphis native, hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 71 with 17 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Witherspoon then drove to the basket as the seconds ticked down.

Mason guarded Witherspoon tight, but the Memphis sophomore threw the ball up, it bounced around the rim for what seemed like a minute, then fell through as time expired to send the 10,231 fans at FedEx Forum into a frenzy and St. John’s (17-16) home heartbroken.

“I was just trying to D up,” Mason said. “[I was] trying to pressure and not foul at the same time. He threw up a lucky shot.”

The Tigers (24-9) hit 10 3-pointers in the first half to take a nine-point lead. The Red Storm chipped away at that lead and surged ahead, 60-59, when Mason hit a 3 with 4:11 left. Witherspoon, a reserve, carried his team down the stretch, scoring the final seven points for Memphis.

St. John’s has four returning starters next season, but the question is this: Will Roberts be there to coach them?

Mason, the lone starting senior, gave his coach an endorsement after his final game.

“We don’t want him to leave,” Mason said. “He shouldn’t leave. He’s been with us since day one. You can’t break up the family.”

brian.costello@nypost.com