– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
NEW YORK — One week ago, St. John’s guard David Jones lost the man who taught him the game of basketball, his father. On Saturday afternoon, after taking time away to grieve his loss, Jones used some of those lessons his old man passed on to him to help the Red Storm record one of the biggest wins of the season.
Jones scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the Red Storm upset No. 20 Providence 73-68 inside of a packed house inside Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon. Joel Soriano had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds for St. John’s, while AJ Storr added 15 points as the Red Storm opened up an early 16-point lead and were able to hold on for the win.
Jones was away from the team and had missed the last two games after traveling to the Dominican Republic after his father’s passing on Feb. 3. Coming off the bench, Jones was aggressive soon after taking the floor, winding up with the most shot attempts of anyone on the Red Storm with 17. In the postgame press conference, Jones showed off a couple of new tattoos that honored his late father, the man Jones credits as the person who gave him the impetus to pursue the game.
“He never played professional,” Jones said. “He was good, though. He had bounce.”
The Red Storm only trailed at 2-0, scoring the game’s next five points afterward and never proceeding to not trail for the remainder of the game. An 18-4 run soon afterward gave St. John’s its biggest lead of the game at 25-9, with a Jones three-pointer and short jumper preceding a Drissa Traore dunk that capped off the run at the 10:32 mark of the first half.
Providence clawed back into the game with a massive run of its own, closing the half on a 19-7 run to cut the Red Storm’s lead to two at 37-35 at halftime. A Noah Locke jumper at the 17:10 mark tied the game at 39, but the Friars were never able to take the lead.
Posh Alexander added 10 points and a season-high nine assists for St. John’s while Soriano, who came in ranking second in the nation in double-doubles, recorded his 20th such game of the season.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with all photos taken by ALOST photographer Danny Suriel. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 26 pictures in total.
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
