The St. John’s Men’s Basketball team rolled to an 82-41 victory over Southern New Hampshire on Saturday at Carnesecca Arena in the Red Storm’s final exhibition of the preseason. Six Johnnies notched double figures, including a game-high 14 points from senior center Joel Soriano.
Montez Mathis finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and sank three 3-pointers. Posh Alexander, Dylan Addae-Wusu and Kolby King added 11 points apiece while Andre Curbelo chipped in 10 points to go with a game-high five assists.
As a team, the Red Storm dished out 20 assists and limited its turnovers to just seven. St. John’s outrebounded Southern New Hampshire, 50-34, as Soriano, Addae Wusu and David Jones anchored the team’s effort on the glass with eight rebounds each.
St. John’s led by as many as 13 points in the opening stanza and carried a 35-26 advantage into the break. Mathis scored eight of his 13 points in first 20 minutes of action.
The Red Storm broke the game open early in the second half, unleashing a 11-0 run on the Penmen to go up 46-26 at the 15:34 mark. Mathis jumpstarted the run with his third triple while Soriano added five straight points, including a three-point play, to power the spurt.
St. John’s also locked in defensively in the second half, holding Southern New Hampshire scoreless for the first five minutes of action. The Red Storm held the Penmen to just 15 points on 22.2 percent shooting and 1-for-11 shooting from distance in the final 20 minutes of play.
Midway through the half, the Johnnies went on another 11-0 run that was fueled by five-straight points from King to go up 62-35 with 8:45 to go. St. John’s then closed the game with a 17-2 run that featured a breakaway slam by Mathis and back-to-back threes from Addae-Wusu. Addae-Wusu scored all 11 points in the latter stanza on 4-of-6 shooting with three 3-pointers.
In the second half, St. John’s shot 52.8 percent (19-36) from the field and 41.7 percent (5-12) from distance. The Johnnies also dished out 12 assists and committed only three turnovers in the period.
St. John’s returns to action on Monday, November 7 when the Johnnies open the regular-season at Carnesecca Arena against Merrimack. Tip-off is slated for 6:45 p.m.
For more information on the St. John’s University Athletics Department fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:
St. John’s University Athletics – Official Athletics Website (redstormsports.com)