St. John's University struggles in opener against LIU, but pulls off a win
BY Roger Rubin
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
St. John's is looking to finally have that breakout season. Breakout seasons usually start better than this.
The Red Storm was exactly what it should be in the first half and early minutes of the second last night, overpowering LIU and building a big lead. But the Johnnies ultimately looked like the same team that has had trouble finishing off lesser programs the last few years, holding on for an 83-70 win at Carnesecca Arena.
St. John's looked as inspiring as any of coach Norm Roberts' six Red Storm teams during the first 23 minutes, opening a 19-point lead. In the second half the shooting went cold, the Johnnies surrendered the pace of the game and the lead evaporated. With 1:03 to play, the Storm was up just 77-70, and it was still a single-digit game in the final minute.
"C-plus" was the grade Roberts put on the effort.
"We had to shake the cobwebs off in the second half," Paris Horne said.
Same old song, anybody?
D.J. Kennedy had 16 points, Dwight Hardy had 14 and Justin Burrell, Justin Brownlee and Horne each had 12 for St. John's. Hardy and Brownlee are junior-college transfers. Freshman Omari Lawrence had seven points in 14 minutes. Freshman Malik Stith was unable to play after spraining an ankle Thursday night.
Jaytornah Wisseh had 28 points and orchestrated LIU's second-half comeback, forcing Storm point guard Malik Boothe to the bench with foul trouble and, as Kennedy said, "controlling the game."
The Johnnies unveiled their deeper, more-talented look and it was impressive. A bad shooting team a year ago and even worse on 3-point shots, St. John's made 59% from the floor and went 8-for-16 on threes last night. And a team that had no depth last year used eight players for at least eight minutes. The Storm led 50-36 at halftime.
The lead got as big as 59-40 before things started to unravel. The added depth means Roberts should be able to keep five fresh bodies on the floor at all times, but he admitted he's still getting a feel for that. Sometimes LIU would cut a chunk off the lead before Roberts went to his subs.
St. John's did get to the foul line but it missed eight of its first 11 free throws of the second half while Wisseh was scoring 16, the last two on free throws to cut it to 77-70. Boothe and Hardy each made two free throws and Horne threw down a dunk in St. John's last three possessions.
"When we were pushing the ball and playing fast and getting up and defending ... that's what we can be," Roberts said.
To have the season they want, it'll have to last more than 23 minutes.
Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2009/11/14/2009-11-14_st_johns_university_struggles_in_opener_against_liu_but_pulls_off_a_win.html#ixzz0WqKHTZEj