Youth is Served as St. John's Beats West Virginia 78-62

            Chalk it up to the exuberance of youth.  Even as they've struggled to four straight losses and a 3-6 Big East record the Red Storm have always brought energy and effort even in moments like the end of Saturday's loss to Villanova where their execution and decision making have faltered. Four straight losses or not, the team was due for a winning effort and they put one together last night with a 78-62 wire to wire win over West Virginia at Madison Square Garden last night.

            An early 9-0 run gave St. John's a much needed 21-6 lead and  another run of 8-0 lifted them to a 36-20 halftime advantage.  As he has all season Moe Harkless paced the Red Storm 23 points and 13 rebounds but unlike the previous games there was lots of help for him.  D'angelo Harrison, who has established himself as the team's second best scorer but had been slumping recently added 19 points including 3 of the Red Storm's 4 three point makes. Amir Garrett, who started in place of junior center God'sgift Achiuwa and gave St. John's an all-freshman starting lineup added 11 points 7 boards and the energy that had always been the hallmark of his play at Findlay Prep. Phil Greene scored 11 as well, added 8 assists and along with Harkless provided answers when West Virginia made their expected run and cut what had been a 20 point deficit to 10.

            St. John's also did an outstanding job taking care of area's that have plagued them as the losses have mounted.  The obvious ones were shooting percentages from both two and three point distances, where St. John's entered the game last in the league and shot 48% and 33% respectively last night. They also played an experienced mountaineer front line even on the boards and committed just 12 turnovers. The most complete effort of their season helped them beat a West Virginia team that had won its last 3 games and helped them overcome a great effort from a local star as senior forward Kevin Jones, from Mount Vernon High had game highs of 26 points and 14 boards as he continues to put together a player of the year caliber season in the Big East Conference. As they prepare to play at Duke on Saturday the Red Storm finally achieved success on which they may be able to build.  As Harkless said the team has been "getting better every game" and this weekend at Cameron will be a test of both the team's progress and their resolve.