St. John’s Tops New Hampshire, 64-51

Saturday, December 10

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

6 p.m.

St. John's University

10-1,1-0Big East

New Hampshire

3-6,0-0America East

New Hampshire

St. John's (NY)

12/10/2022 9:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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David Jones and Joel Soriano tally double-doubles to lead the Red Storm in a 13-point victory over New Hampshire on Saturday at Carnesecca Arena

QUEENS, N.Y. – David Jones and Joel Soriano finished with double-doubles in the same game for the third time this season, lifting the St. John's men's basketball team to a 64-51 victory over New Hampshire (3-6, 0-0) on Saturday inside Carnesecca Arena.

Now standing 10-1 overall, St. John's has matched the program's second-best start through 11 games in the last three decades. The Johnnies also improved to 8-0 at Carnesecca Arena this season with seven of those victories coming by double-digit margins. With Saturday's win over the Wildcats, the Red Storm completed its home portion of the non-conference slate, extending its out-of-conference win streak in Queens to 25 games.

Jones recorded a game-high 20 points and 12 boards in his third double-double of the season. The junior wing from the Dominican Republic added four steals and matched a career-high with three blocks. Soriano had 14 points and 14 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the year, which leads all of Division I. The senior center from Yonkers also dished out three assists and blocked two shots.

Freshman guard AJ Storr gave St. John's (10-1, 1-0) a major boost off the bench, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the second half. He knocked down 5-of-9 attempts from the field and shot 3-for-4 from three in 24 minutes of action.

St. John's scored 16 points off turnovers and outscored the Wildcats 13-0 in fast break points. The Red Storm also registered a season-high nine blocks and outrebounded the Wildcats, 49-41.

Making his first career start at St. John's, Rafael Pinzon knocked down a triple in the early minutes of the contest, which sparked an 11-0 run for the Johnnies. Jones scored four points during the spurt and Soriano capped it off with a pair of free-throws to put St. John's on top 13-5 with 12:25 to go in the half.
New Hampshire chipped away at the eight-point deficit over the next 10 minutes and eventually tied the game at 20 with 2:39 remaining in the half. However, Jones responded with a three-point play to put St. John's back on top, and then Soriano threw down a two-handed slam in transition that gave the Red Storm a 25-22 advantage at the break.

Both teams exchanged blows early in the second half. After falling behind 39-38, St. John's unleashed a 10-0 run to recapture a lead it would not relinquish. Storr was responsible for eight points during the surge, hitting a pair of triples and throwing down a one-handed slam to give the Johnnies a 48-39 edge with 10:39 on the clock.

Following a quick push from New Hampshire to slash its deficit down to five, Dylan Addae-Wusu and Jones answered with five points each over a 10-4 spurt to open a double-digit advantage, 58-47, at the 5:19 mark. St. John's held New Hampshire to two made field goals the rest of the way to seal the victory.

New Hampshire was led by Matthew Herasme who scored 12 of his 14 points after intermission. Herasme also grabbed 10 boards while teammate Clarence Daniels (11 points, 11 rebounds) also finished with a double-double.

St. John's returns to action next Saturday when the Johnnies take on Florida State in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Fla. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on Bally Sports and locally on MSG Network.