Postell Delivers Win Against No.8 UConn

January 19, 1998

Men's Basketball

St. John's - 64  Connecticut - 62

Twelve years ago today, St. John's beat No.8 Connecticut 64-62 at Madison Square Garden. The Red Storm (13-6) earned its first win against a ranked team under second year coach Fran Fraschilla.

''To win a game like this is a good starting point in terms of rebuilding the program,'' Fraschilla said. ''For our players, this was a real gut check.''

Senior guard Felipe Lopez led the Johnnies with 18 points, but it was sophomore Lavor Postell who put the clamps on UConn's leading scorer Richard Hamilton. Hamilton, who came in averaging 23 points a game, was held to just 4 points in the first half, as St. John's led 27-23 at the break.

''I knew he was a scorer and he was coming in to shoot,'' Postell said. ''I just wanted to make sure that all of his shots were going to be contested.'' Hamilton finished with 17 points, but only 6-17 from the field. The previous year in Storrs, Postell helped hold Hamilton to just 4 points on 1-14 shooting in 39 minutes, as SJU left Gampel Pavilion with the win.

After the break, St. John's went on a 17-5 run and led 44-28 with 12:40 left in the second half. Connecticut (16-3) (6-2) would cut the deficit to one in the final seconds, but Postell closed it out hitting 1 of 2 from the line. Lavor finished with 13 points and 5 rebounds.

''I said before the season that St. John's was one of the most talented teams in the league and would be one of the teams from the league to make it to the N.C.A.A. tournament,'' UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. ''They were good before they played us, they were good tonight, and they'll be good even if they lose a couple more games.''

SJU-Connecticut Box Score