St. John’s Topples Fordham, 77-55, in MSG Holiday Festival

Saturday, December 16

New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)

3:30 p.m.

St. John's University

7-3,0-0Big East

Fordham

5-6,0-0Atlantic 10

Fordham

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Topples Fordham, 77-55, in MSG Holiday Festival

12/16/2023 7:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The Red Storm men’s basketball team held the Rams to 25.4 percent shooting and 11.1 percent from distance in a 22-point victory on Saturday in Midtown

NEW YORK – The St. John's men's basketball team cruised to a 77-55 victory over Fordham on Saturday in the MSG Holiday Festival. Senior center Joel Soriano recorded his sixth double-double of the season to help the Red Storm to its fifth win in the last six games.

The Johnnies' defense stifled the Rams, holding them to a 25.4 field goal shooting percentage (15-59 FG), including 11.1 percent (2-18 3FG) from 3-point territory. St. John's (7-3) also turned Fordham (5-6) over 21 times and scored 17 points off turnovers.

Soriano finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 23 minutes of action. The Yonkers native shot 9-for-15 from the floor and hit a pair of free-throws. Graduate transfer Chris Ledlum also chipped in 11 points, going 3-for-6 from the field and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.

St. John's received a balanced scoring effort on Saturday as 11 players finished in the scoring column and the Red Storm's bench produced 29 points. Jordan Dingle (8), Nahiem Alleyne (7) and Drissa Traore (6) combined for 21 points and shot 5-for-6 from 3-point territory off the bench.

Red Storm point guard Daniss Jenkins dished out eight of the team's 20 assists on Saturday. The 6-foot-4 graduate student from Dallas also finished with six points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks. Sean Conway, who earned his second start of the season, recorded six points, two rebounds and two steals against the Rams.

The Johnnies scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back in the wire-to-wire victory. St. John's opened an 18-point advantage midway through the half after Traore and Alleyne buried back-to-back 3-pointers.

Fordham managed to keep within 39-28 at halftime thanks in part to a 13-for-14 shooting effort from the free-throw line. The Rams shot 88.5 percent (23-26) from the line in the contest.

The Johnnies recorded assists on 12 of the team's 16 made field goals in the first half with Jenkins dishing out five. The Red Storm sank five of its six 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes while Soriano led the team into the locker room with 10 points.

The Rams trimmed its deficit to as few as eight just 63 seconds into the second half after Kyle Rose drained a corner 3-pointer to make it a 41-33 ballgame. St. John's countered with a 12-2 run that featured a reverse slam by Ledlum and the Johnnies would lead by double digits the rest of the way.

Fordham was led by Josh Rivera who scored nine of his team-high 15 points at the free-throw line. Abdou Tsimbila also recorded 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks for the Rams.

Saturday's victory marked the Red Storm's fourth-straight in the MSG Holiday Festival while also improving to a perfect 9-0 against Fordham in the event.

St. John's will return to action on Wednesday as it opens BIG EAST play against Xavier inside Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with the national telecast airing on FS1.