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Fans Were Shocked by St. John’s Bench Sniper Celebration vs. Omaha

Stephen Douglas

The St. John’s bench sniper made an immediate impression on viewers.
The St. John’s bench sniper made an immediate impression on viewers. / @rarerookie
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The St. John's Red Storm had a slow start to their first round game against Omaha in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The No. 2 seed fell behind 7–0 before Rick Pitino was forced to call a timeout just over three minutes into the game.

Fortunately for the Johnnies they were eventually able to get the offense going and went on a 16–2 run later in the half. After a Simeon Wilcher three gave them a 28-22 lead, CBS showed one of the players on the bench laying on the floor pretending to be a sniper.

While this might not have been the most appropriate celebration in 2025, people certainly reacted strongly to the St. John's bench sniper. At the very least they were in awe of the absurdity of the decision.

St. John's ended up taking a 33–28 lead into halftime.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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