New Johnnies Impress in Exhibition Debut

                                          

Junior College transfer God'sgift Achiuwa led six players in double figures and helped St. John's begin a new era with a 110-80 win over Division II C.W. Post in an exhibition game last night.

              With just one player, junior guard Malik Stith, remaining from last year's 21-12 NCAA tournament team, year two under head coach Steve Lavin marks a new beginning and despite a slow start and some struggles throughout  the game rebounding and defensively there were plenty of good moments as well.

              From a team standpoint the single best aspect of St. John's effort was the passing, a part of the game that Lavin and his coaching staff helped last year's group of seniors improve on markedly.  Apparently they have done yeoman work with this group of freshman as well.  Although time will tell whether these results continue against competition that will be much tougher the team finished with 24 assists while committing just 10 turnovers. Six different players handed out assists in the game while soph guard Nurideen Lindsay led the way with 7. The result of all that good ball movement was a sizzling shooting night (50-76) and a balanced attack.

              St. John's had a terrific transition game going early as the guards pushed the ball up and Achiuwa did a great job running from block to block creating easy post up situations. The Red Storm's perimeter game took a bit longer to get started but once it did a pair of freshmen, D'Angelo Harrison and Phil Greene led the way.

              Former St. John's assistant Chris Casey's Pioneers found offense from beyond the three point stripe early as D-II All-American and former Middletown (NY) standout Stefan Bonneau helped them answer Achiuwa's fast start.  They trailed by just 4 at 33-29 when Greene hit consecutive triples and Achiuwa made the last of his first 7 shots from the field. The Red Storm led by 11 at the break and put the game away for good in the opening moments of the second half. Achiuwa took team high scoring honors with 21 points while Harrison and Greene, who hit four three pointers, each added 20. Lindsay added 16 points to go with his assists and former Forrest Hills High star Moe Harkless had a double double with 14 points and 14 boards. For Post Bonneau hit for a game high 28 points while freshman and former St. Mary's High (LI) standout Charles McCann finished with 15 points. Assistant coach Mike Dunlap filled in as head coach tonight while Lavin continues to recuperate from prostate cancer surgery.