Jamaica, NY – The St. John’s Crimson Storm (4-2) raced out to a fast lead vs. the Holy Cross Crusaders (2-5) in a simple 91-45 victory. St John’s dominance on this sport stemmed from a balanced assault from their starters and the second unit.
They had been led in scoring by senior Joel Soriano who completed with 16 factors on 8-of-9 from the sector. Soriano could be very efficient at getting his shot off on the rim and has good management and arms to complete by means of contact. Soriano makes his transfer shortly off the catch earlier than the double workforce can set up strong positioning which makes for prime proportion photographs or journeys to the road. With that mentioned he hasn’t developed a fringe taking pictures sport which retains him from being a severe draft prospect in his closing yr, however together with his manufacturing he’s nonetheless a dependable go-to scoring possibility for Rick Pitino’s offense.
Among the many seniors main the way in which for St John’s early this season is guard Daniss Jenkins. He completed this contest with solely two factors on 1-of-4 taking pictures in 16 minutes however nonetheless was capable of rack up a sport excessive six assists, proper at his season common of 5.8 . Jenkins demonstrated his command of the offense all through the primary half. He’s capable of assess the place his shooters are on the wings and on quick breaks and might shortly the ball to them for open photographs. He and Soriano had been unstoppable within the choose and roll motion, continually having the ability to break down the protection and get deep within the paint to make one thing occur for certainly one of his teammates. Jenkins fed his large males with correct dump in passes, rewarding them for establishing good place. On an off scoring night time, he was capable of nonetheless impact the sport and contribute to the blowout win.
Off the bench sophomore Zuby Ejiofor made a number of spotlight performs. His taking pictures numbers didn’t replicate the general affect he had as he went 2-of-9 for under 5 factors. Nevertheless his power and hustle on each ends helped the second unit keep the large lead. He ended the sport with seven rebounds, 5 of these offensive. He continually offered second likelihood alternatives on that finish of the ground showcasing his athleticism by chasing down and preventing for these free balls and rebounds. He did wrestle to complete a whole lot of these second likelihood photographs and rushed just a few that he ought to’ve made. On protection his lengthy arms and pace led to quick break dunks for himself or his teammates which confirmed within the field rating with a sport excessive 4 blocks. His excessive power and defensive depth had been infectious as all the second unit got here in and picked up the place the starters left off.
As a workforce defensively St John’s had Holy Cross stifled the enter sport, forcing 20 turnovers and gathering 14 steals and 6 blocks. The Crusaders couldn’t discover a lot manufacturing from anybody this sport as no participant was capable of get in double digits scoring. They’ll have an opportunity to bounce again from tonight’s loss on Wednesday at residence vs Maine (4-4) whereas the Crimson Storm head to West Virginia on Thursday to face the Mountaineers (2-3).
This text was written by Frank Amankwah, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You possibly can comply with us on Fb, or on twitter.
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