It was simple, really.
Nobody on Lafayette could handle Joel Soriano, the hulking 6-foot-11 center for St. John’s, in the paint.
Once the Red Storm started to take advantage of that mismatch — and began to limit Lafayette’s open looks from the 3-point line — any thoughts the Patriot League school had of an upset evaporated.
After going scoreless in 11 first-half minutes, Soriano took over in a key stretch following halftime, and the Red Storm shook off a shaky opening 25 minutes to knock off Lafayette, 83-68, at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday night.
The big man scored nine of his 13 points in an extended 26-10 run that turned the game in the Red Storm’s favor. As Soriano, who added 10 rebounds, started to deliver in the post, the perimeter opened up. Dylan Addae-Wusu hit a pair of 3-pointers and AJ Storr added another at the end of the run to push the lead to 16 with 10:02 left.
Joel Soriano scored nine of his 13 points in an extended 26-10 run. Paul J. Bereswill“[Coach Mike Anderson] told us we have to play inside-out,” Addae-Wusu said. “We put our big man to use. He’s dominant down there. Once we got it down low, he got a couple of touches, it opened up the game.”
Soriano faulted himself. He said he wasn’t aggressive enough early, didn’t make himself available to his teammates where they could get him the ball and allowed his frustration to get the better of him. At the break, the coaching staff spoke to him about getting his head right.
“I came in the second half with a different mindset,” Soriano said.
David Jones scored 20 points to lead St. John’s (2-0) in scoring for the second straight game, Addae-Wusu had 14 and Andre Curbelo added 10, with six assists.
T.J. Berger scored 17 for Lafayette (0-2), which went 14-for-35 from 3-point range.
St. John’s perimeter defense was lacking in the first half. Some of it came in transition when Lafayette beat pressure. Other times, the open 3s came from dribble penetration or switches. The Red Storm’s close-outs were not good enough, as Lafayette hit eight of its first 15 3-point attempts and trailed by just two at halftime.
David Jones of St. John’s Red Storm drives past Kyle Jenkins. Paul J. Bereswill“We were just lackadaisical I would say or we would be late on rotations,” Addae-Wusu said. “But we amped it up in the second half and it was hard for them to get shots up.”
St. John’s defended the 3-point line better after halftime, holding Lafayette to 6-for-18 shooting from distance in the second half, and they were very different on the offensive end. The Red Storm got the ball to Soriano, and he made the most of his opportunities, looking more like the player who was so impressive during the exhibition tour this summer in the Dominican Republic.
“Just being consistent [is important for me],” Soriano said. “I know what my team expects of me, and I know what I have to do on the court.”
