Joel Soriano scored 10 points during a decisive first-half run and posted a double-double Wednesday night for host St. John’s, which rolled to an 85-50 win over Sacred Heart in Queens, N.Y.
Soriano had 18 points and 13 rebounds while adding a career-high six assists for St. John’s (6-2), which has won four straight. It was the fourth double-double of the season for Soriano, who ranked second in the nation last year with 25 double-doubles.
Jordan Dingle scored 17 points, while Daniss Jenkins added 13 points for the Red Storm, who had 9 players score at least five points.
Nico Galette scored 13 points for Sacred Heart (4-6), which has lost four in a row. Galette and Alex Sobel had seven rebounds apiece for the Pioneers, who are the preseason favorites to win the Northeast Conference.
Sobel opened the scoring with a layup to give Sacred Heart its only lead. The 6-foot-8 forward had two rebounds and two blocks as St. Johns began the game by missing its first five shots.
Chris Ledlum converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to put St. John’s ahead with 17:40 left. Sacred Heart got within one point twice more before the Red Storm scored 10 straight points to take their first double-digit lead at 18-7 with 12:34 remaining.
Sacred Heart responded with a 7-1 run and pulled within 19-14 on a layup by Raymond Espinal-Guzman with 10:20 left, but St. John’s took control for good as Soriano sparked the 19-4 run that gave the Red Storm a 38-18 lead.
Jenkins hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give St. John’s a 47-26 lead. The Red Storm opened their first 30-point lead at 59-29 on a layup by Jenkins with 14:40 left on their way to improving to 5-0 all-time against Sacred Heart.
–Field Level Media