(PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S RED STORM ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS, VINCENT DUSOVIC)
“I’m all about opportunities. The guys showed it to me in practice, so I gave them the opportunity.”
For those who kept pleading for St. John’s Red Storm head coach Mike Anderson to make changes to his rotation, or even starting lineup, your voice has been heard.
Exit Stef Smith and Joel Soriano.
Enter Esahia Nyiwe and Dylan Addae-Wusu.
The Johnnies entered tonight’s contest having getting ran out of UBS Arena on Friday night, in the Big East-Big 12 battle against No. 8/7 Kansas by a mere 20 points, after narrowing a lead to three in the second half of the ball game
48 hours later, St. John’s welcomed in the Rams of Fordham University to Carnesecca Arena, and showed the fans what a complete team is, at times in an 83-69 victory. But, did show lapses on the defensive side of the ball, where the Rams were able to go on a 9-2 run in the opening stanza, thanks in large part by Darius Quisenberry.
The Johnnies countered with a 12-2 run, which took a team effort to put the Red Storm ahead 41-31. A bucket from freshman O’mar Stanley, followed by a fast break from junior forward Julian Champagnie, and a pair of layups from Montez Mathis, and Posh Alexander, respectively.
In the opening minutes, Johnnies fans, as well as folks watching around the globe, were wondering who would be replaced if head coach Mike Anderson were to make starting lineup changes? Junior forward Esahia Nyiwe made the biggest impact on defense, that eventually turned into offense for the 6’10” Omaha, Nebraska native, and Clarendon College transfer.
The Red Storm did lead by as much as 19 when the score was 60-41, but did have times where it showed their cards and allowed the Rams to slowly make an attempted comeback.
Nyiwe tallied seven points, grabbed eight boards, and even assisted on a pair of buckets.
“If you look at our team, we’re blue-collar, and I put some blue-collar guys in our lineup. Defense creates offense, and you saw that tonight” commented Mike Anderson in the postgame press-conference.
SPIN CYCLE 🌪 @PoshAlexander ➡️ @ZayeNyiwe @StJohnsBBall is holidin' their own! pic.twitter.com/aFmnHHXzDV
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 6, 2021
Sophomore guard Posh Alexander added a career-high 23 points, converted 11-for-16 from the field, grabbed four rebounds, and assisted on five buckets in 38 minutes.
Julian Champagnie continued his strong play with 16 total points, eight boards, a pair of assists, and one triple.
One notable statistic we may have not mentioned, is the coming out party for senior guard and Rutgers transfer Montez Mathis, as he earned a Red Storm high 16 points in 6-of-10 shooting from the floor, four boards, and one helper in 33 minutes.
How can we forget about one of the three returners from a season ago? Dylan Addae-Wusu tallied his first career double-double with 11 assists, and 11 points. Three points shy of a career-high, that was set last year against Seton Hall inside Carnesecca Arena on March 6, 2021.
Assist no. 1️⃣0️⃣ for @WusuDylan!
He’s the first #SJUBB player this year with double-digit helpers. pic.twitter.com/oHnsfqg0bs
— St. John's BBall (@StJohnsBBall) December 6, 2021
“You can see he’s ready to play now coming off the injury. He’s the glue guy, he makes us go…and a lot of times, he makes Posh go, too.” said Anderson regarding Addae-Wusu.
Anderson made a statement by action in tonight’s contest by switching up his rotation in terms of playing time, where he only played Aaron Wheeler for a grand total of one minute, followed by seven minutes for Stef Smith, and former Fordham standout center Joel Soriano, who only saw eight minutes on the floor against his former team. Tareq Coburn only saw four minutes on the floor, with one missed triple, and one turnover in the contest. In the first half, Anderson went as deep as 11 players in the rotation, but in the second half, mainly stuck with his starters, including Nyiwe.
“We’re still a work in progress. I want to get it to where we’re able to play 40 minutes together. It’s a game of runs, I always want to be able to have that last run, and we had that last run tonight.”
Tonight, the Johnnies faced a Fordham team that has gotten better over time, due to the addition of head coach and former Villanova assistant coach, Kyle Neptune. He replaced Jeff Neubauer, who put together one good season, that eventually resulted in a downgrade in talent for the Atlantic-10 program, and Bronx university. A complete work in progress in a full rebuild of the program. But by witnessing the constant drive, and lack of slowing down, the Fordham program has shown signs of progress with six victories so far in Neptunes inaugural season as the leader on Rose Hill.
Things do not get any easier for the Johnnies, as their next opponent in the Hawks of Monmouth University, are red hot and have won seven straight victories since their opening night loss to Charlotte. One of those seven consecutive wins? Against Cincinnati. That contest will come your way on Thursday night, December 9 beginning at 8:30 p.m. on FS1.
