St. John's outlasts Syracuse in overtime, moves to 6-0
Joel Soriano #11 of the St. John's Red Storm puts up a shot in the first half against Chris Bell #0 of the Syracuse Orange at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It’s not how you start.
It’s how you finish.
That axiom, evidently, is the tagline for the Red Storm, who outlasted Syracuse, 76-69, in overtime in the championship game of the Empire Classic on Tuesday night at Barclays Center. St. John’s improved to 6-0.
“It was a great team win,” said Andre Curbelo, who scored a career-high 23 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Joel Soriano, who began the week being named to the Big East honor roll Monday, recorded a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. It was Soriano’s NCAA-best fifth double-double of the season. DePaul transfer David Jones had a double-double of his own with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
St. John’s outscored Syracuse 47-34 in the second half and overtime, which continued the theme of this still-embryonic season for the Red Storm: their ability to improve over the course of the game.
“Our tendency right now,” coach Mike Anderson said, “is [we’re] a second-half team.”
Against Syracuse (3-2), it did not come easy.
Andre Curbelo #3 of St. John's celebrates against Syracuse at Barclays Center on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
In this case, the Red Storm had to hold their breath when the Orange’s Symir Torrence missed a midrange baseline jumper at the end of regulation.
Jones began the extra session by converting a layup and put the game away by drilling a corner three-pointer with 44 seconds left. Jones also knocked down a midrange jumper in the overtime, in which Curbalo scored on a layup and Soriano made two free throws.
“My confidence is always there,” Jones said.
The 92nd all-time matchup between St. John’s and the Orange was an amalgamation of the unfamiliar and familiar for fans of a particular vintage. The lower bowl at Barclays Center was half-empty and the upper deck was tarped off, neither of which recalled wistful memories of a sold-out Madison Square Garden or Carrier Dome on a cold winter night. Nor was there the entrenched animosity that was the byproduct of two-to-three matchups a year, every year.
What had not changed, though, was Syracuse’s devotion to its famed 2-3 zone defense. And it caused St. John’s to experience fits.
The Red Storm trailed 35-29 at the end of a first half in which they missed 18 of 27 shots from the field, including misfiring on 7 of 11 three-point attempts, and committed nine turnovers.
“We missed layups,” Anderson said. “You have to make shots.”
Judah Mintz led Syracuse with 20. Jesse Edwards chipped in with 18. Chris Bell finished with 12. Benny Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“We played well,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We did a lot of good things; more good things than not.”
The matchup was the first in nearly six years between the former Big East rivals. The Red Storm routed the Orange, 93-60, at the Carrier Dome on Dec. 21, 2016.
