Lavin earns first Red Storm victory

It’s called “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Though he grew up on the opposite side of the country from the Garden, Steve Lavin still realized the magic of it.
“Growing up in a basketball family, I was aware of what a significant venue Madison Square Garden is,” said Lavin.
Lavin, in his first season at the helm for St. John’s University, hopes to capture the “great heritage of tradition and what makes the Garden special.”
He got off on the right foot in his first game as the Red Storm head coach at MSG. A 62-57 victory over Davidson University in The Holiday Festival gave Lavin a victory in his first try at one of his new homes.
The Garden, along with Carnesecca Arena on the St. John’s campus, serves as the home court for the Red Storm.
The Johnnies actually have an over 60 percent winning percentage all-time at the Garden, but these past few years they have seen the magic fade there, going just 5-14 over the past three years.
Lavin has coached at the Garden before, in the 2000 Coaches vs. Cancer preseason tournament with UCLA. The Bruins lost to Kansas, who then beat St. John’s in the championship game, and beat Kentucky in overtime.
He’s also been on the sidelines at MSG as an assistant coach and also called many games as a broadcaster over the past seven years
But this was his first chance to roam the sideline as the home head coach at the Garden. He remembers being “inspired” the first time he was under the Garden’s “bright lights” back when he was still an assistant coach.
In a back and forth game, the type of game the Johnnies should be getting used to as it seems all their games have been undecided in the final minutes, the Red Storm were able to pull out a hard fought win.
St. John’s won this game with an aggressive second half that saw them out rebound Davidon 21-7 and using a “stick-to-it-iveness,” as Lavin said, to find a way to win. The win gave the Johnnies a record of 6-3 on the season with the Big East conference schedule approaching.
Lavin’s 2-1 lifetime at the Garden now, but more importantly he won his first game as the head coach of St. John’s.
He and St. John’s fans hope the first of many.