By Joseph Staszewski
St. John’s University had little to be happy about, despite pulling out a win over Monmouth.
The Red Storm’s star freshman, Rysheed Jordan, was suspended before the contest for a violation of team rules and afterward his teammates put out a less-than-stellar performance in a 64-54 win over the Hawks Nov. 19 at Carnesecca Arena. St. John’s men’s basketball Coach Steve Lavin was not pleased with his team’s performance.
“The first half was a straight F,” Lavin said. “There wasn’t one positive thing I could find in the first half about our performance. I thought in the second half we had just enough.”
He thought one of the bright spots was the team making eight 3-pointers and the continued strong play of guard Phil Greene IV. The junior scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds with D’Angelo Harrison in foul trouble. Greene, who shot 9 of 12 from the field, was again the catalyst and hit the game-sealing 3-pointer with just over a minute left in the game.
“I was wide open so I had enough confidence to shoot it,” Greene said. “I was making them all game so I just took the big one.”
Harrison scored eight of his 15 points late in the second half. JaKarr Sampson had 14 points and nine rebounds. Justin Robinson led Monmouth (1-3) with 15 points. The Red Storm (3-1) tied a team record with 15 blocks shots, including nine from Chris Obekpa.
St. John’s, which led just 28-26 at halftime, took control of the game with a 10-1 run that gave it a 50-41 lead with 7:05 left to play. Harrison, who played 16 minutes, made it hold up. He scored eight straight points, including two 3-pointers in less than two minutes of game time to give the Johnnies a 59-52 lead with 2:28 remaining.
“I live for those kind of moments,” Harrison said.
The win provided some joy on a night that didn’t begin well. Lavin said Jordan’s return to the team is predicated on his taking care of his team responsibilities. Jordan, the preseason Big East freshman of the year, did not practice with team the day before facing Monmouth. Lavin would not say if that was tied into the suspension. The 6-foot-4 guard was not on the bench with is teammates for the game. Lavin did not deem Jordan’s violation severe.
“We are always going to hold them responsible for a certain standard,” Lavin said. “If they toe that line, they’re fine. When they don’t, then we hold them accountable and there are consequences.”
That was the start to a disappointing day for the Johnnies and with a win that didn’t leave any involved satisfied.
“Lav has so much confidence in us that when we don’t play the way he expect us to, it hurts him,” Harrison said. “It hurt us.”
