LoVett leads Johnnies past NOLA for 1st win
Marcus LoVett had 23 points, hitting five from long range, and Marvin Clark II added 15 points as host St. John’s defeated New Orleans 77-61 in the season opener on Friday night.
Shamorie Ponds added 12 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out six assists for St. John’s. Bashir Ahmed chipped in 10 points.
The Red Storm nailed 12 of 30 from beyond the arc while limiting New Orleans to just 4 of 14 from distance.
Desi Rodriguez scored 17 points, 13 in the first half, leading No. 23 Seton Hall to an easy 90-68 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the NIT Season Tip-Off first-round game in Newark.
Micah Seaborn made a pair of free throws with 5.0 seconds left and host Monmouth survived a final shot attempt for a 79-78 seasonopening win over Bucknell.
CELTS’ KYRIE INJURED
Jayson Tatum had 16 points, Shane Larkin added 16 off the bench and the Boston Celtics overcame an injury to Kyrie Irving and a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the visiting Charlotte Hornets 90-87. The Celtics extended their win streak to 11 games. Celtics center Aron Baynes’ elbow inadvertently struck Irving when Baynes was landing after a rebound attempt. Irving fell to the floor and was bleeding from the nose as he was escorted back to the locker room. Irving was ruled out for the rest of the game while he was monitored for possible concussion symptoms.
l Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Milwaukee snapped a four-game skid with a 94-87 victory over host San Antonio in Eric Bledsoe’s debut with the Bucks.
UCLA TRIO HELD IN CHINA
UCLA could be without LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill for awhile.
The trio of Bruins student-athletes who were arrested for shoplifting in China, may be held in Hangzhou for “a week or two,” according to ESPN.
Big Baller Brand clearly isn’t cutting it for the middle Ball child. There is now surveillance footage of Ball and his teammates allegedly stealing from high-end designer stores such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Salvatore Ferragamo.
The trio could face between three and 10 years in prison if convicted, according to Yahoo, but that didn’t faze LaVar Ball.
“He’ll be fine,” LaVar Ball said earlier in the week. “Everybody’s making it a big deal. It ain’t that big of a deal.”
On Wednesday, the three were released on bail. They did not play vs. Georgia Tech.
— Nicholas Parco