St. John’s Rolls Past Holy Cross, 91-45, on Saturday

Saturday, November 25

Queens, N.Y. (Carnesecca Arena)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

4-2,0-0Big East

Holy Cross

2-5,0-0Patriot

Holy Cross

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Rolls Past Holy Cross, 91-45, on Saturday

11/25/2023 10:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball earns 46-point victory over Crusaders inside sold out Carnesecca Arena

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team cruised to a 91-45 victory over Holy Cross (2-5) inside a sold-out Carnesecca Arena on Saturday. The Red Storm's 46-point win over the Crusaders marked the team's largest margin of victory since downing Mississippi Valley State, 119-61, on Nov. 9, 2021.

Senior center Joel Soriano led four Johnnies in double figures, scoring a game-high 16 points and shooting 8-for-9 from the field. The Yonkers native also grabbed six boards in 16 minutes of action. Chris Ledlum matched Soriano with six rebounds to go with 10 points while fellow Ivy League transfer Jordan Dingle added 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

Sophomore wing RJ Luis Jr. made his long-awaited St. John's debut after missing the first four games of the season due to injury. The 6-foot-7 wing from Miami scored 14 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.

As a team, St. John's (4-2) shot over 50 percent from the field for the second-straight contest and recorded 58 of its season-high 91 points in the paint. The Red Storm's bench outscored Holy Cross, 45-15, and all 13 Johnnies who saw action got in the scoring column.

Defensively, the Red Storm forced a season-high 20 turnovers and did not allow a Holy Cross player to score double figures. Caleb Kenney was the Crusaders high scorer with eight points. The Johnnies also dominated the glass outrebounding Holy Cross, 48-23, including a 21-4 advantage in offensive rebounds.

After Holy Cross (2-5) jumped out to an early lead, 18-10, seven minutes into the contest, the Red Storm countered with a 34-10 run and controlled the game the rest of the way. Soriano's two-handed slam sparked a 12-0 spurt that put the Johnnies up 28-20 with 6:58 to go in the opening stanza. The 6-foot-11 center had 12 of his 16 points in the first half.

Over the final 5:34 of the first half, St. John's held Holy Cross to just five points while seeing its advantage double to 16 by the break. Freshman forward Brady Dunlap sent the Johnnies into the locker room with a 44-28 lead by hitting a 3-pointer with 1:09 on the clock. He finished with five points in 15 minutes of action.

St. John's shot 58.1 percent (18-31 FG) in the first half and scored 15 points off the Crusaders' 10 turnovers. The Johnnies also dished out 12 of the team's 22 assists in the first 20 minutes of action.

The Red Storm was locked in defensively in the second half, holding Holy Cross to just four points, all from Kenney, through the first 9:44. St. John's built its lead to 33 during this early stretch after Luis, and Drissa Traore sank back-to-back buckets to finish off a 21-4 run.

The Johnnies' lead grew as large as 46 down the stretch with freshman Simeon Wilcher knocking down the final 3-pointer of the game with 59 seconds remaining to wrap up the 91-45 victory. Wilcher finished with five points, five assists and three rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.

St. John's returns to action on Friday, visiting West Virginia for the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m., with the contest airing on ESPN2.