St. John’s Edged at Providence, 83-80

Saturday, January 7

Providence, R.I. (Amica Mutual Pavilion)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

11-6,1-5Big East

Providence

14-3,6-0Big East

St. John's (NY)

Providence

1/7/2023 3:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The St. John's men's basketball team made a late push to erase an eight-point second half deficit, but it was not enough as the Red Storm fell to Providence, 83-80, on Saturday inside Amica Mutual Pavilion.

Joel Soriano registered his NCAA-leading 14^th double-double with a 16-point, 10-rebound performance, the most double-doubles in a single season by a Johnnie since Zendon Hamilton racked up 14 in 1997-98. The Yonkers native led five Red Storm players in double figures, shooting 8-of-9 from the floor in 27 minutes of action.

With Montez Mathis out due to injury, sophomore O'Mar Stanley stepped up and rattled off a season-high 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes off the bench. Andre Curbelo also chipped in 12 points and four assists while Rafael Pinzon rounded out those in double figures with 10 points for St. John's (11-6, 1-5 BIG EAST).

Noah Locke led Providence (14-3, 6-0 BIG EAST) with 20 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field with five 3-pointers. Devin Carter added 19 points, five assists and five steals to help lift the Friars to their ninth-straight win and improve to a perfect 10-0 at Amica Mutual Pavilion.

Posh Alexander registered 10 of his 14 points in the opening six minutes of the game, burying a pair of triples and laying in two at the rim. After the Johnnies fell behind by seven, 15-8, Stanley ignited a 10-0 run with a layup before a deep two from Soriano capped the stretch and gave the Johnnies an 18-15 edge with 12:42 remaining in the opening frame.

Shortly after, Curbelo sank back-to-back buckets in the paint before AJ Storr and Dylan Addae-Wusu hit consecutive triples, part of a 17-7 spurt that lifted St. John's to a nine-point advantage, 35-26, with 4:47 to go.

After Providence erased the deficit to take a one-point edge with 1:24 on the clock, Stanley laid in a brilliant feed from Curbelo that sent the Red Storm into the break ahead 40-39.

The Red Storm held Providence's leading scorer Bryce Hopkins scoreless in the first half, as the Kentucky transfer started the game 0-for-5 from the field. Hopkins finished with 10 points, seven boards and a pair of blocks.

Locke came out firing in the second stanza, hitting three of his five 3-pointers across a 23-14 stretch to open the frame that pushed Providence out to a 62-54 advantage at the 12:36 mark.

Over the next several minutes, the Johnnies continued to chip away at the Friars' lead as Pinzon scored six points over a 7-0 run to pull the Red Storm within one, 62-61, with under nine minutes to play. St. John's kept the game within two possessions down the stretch and knotted the score at 71 on a Soriano slam in transition at 4:55.

With less than 30 seconds to go, the Johnnies locked down defensively as Dylan Addae-Wusu forced a turnover by Providence's Ed Croswell to regain possession trailing by three with 16.4 seconds on the clock. Curbelo answered at the other end with a layup to get the Johnnies within 80-79. After a pair of free-throws by Carter, the Friars' put Curbelo on the line as the junior guard hit the first and intentionally missed the second shot, but was called for a violation after missing the rim. Croswell sealed the game with a free-throw at the other end to hold off the Red Storm's comeback bid.

St. John's returns home for two of its next three games, beginning with a matchup against Butler on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. FS1 will carry the national telecast live from Carnesecca Arena.