The Art of Crushing the Weak

St. John's owns the Joe Lapchick Tournament. In the 13-year history of the tournament, named for the former St. John's basketball coach, the Redmen are 26-0 with 13 championships.

The tourney's Most Valuable Player award has gone to a Redman every year except 1979, when Michigan State's Jay Vincent earned the honor. This year's MVP, St. John's forward Shelton Jones, averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Redmen Coach Lou Carnesecca tries to be humble about his winning streak, saying things like "I hope we continue to win." The 19-year veteran coach has very little to fear as long as St. John's continues to schedule weaker opponents in the tournament.

It's no coincidence that the Redmen's competition in the tournament this year--Harvard, Tennessee Tech, and Loyola Marymount--each finished at the bottom of their leagues last season, with a combined record of 28-53.

Loyola, which fell to St. John's in the championship game, 88-85, was able to challenge the Redmen only with the help of two transfer students--Corey Gaines from UCLA and Hank Gathers from USC.

Gaines set both the single-game (13) and two-game (18) tournament assist records while averaging 22.5 p.p.g. Meanwhile. *** 23 p.p.g. and eight r.p.g. Both were both named to the All-Tournament team.

As long as the Redmen continue scheduling weaker tourney opponents, and unless a team like Loyola improves dramatically in the offseason, the tournament will be two easy wins for St. John's before the squad faces its Big East rivals.

B.C. Tonight: Speaking of the Big East, Harvard faces its second opponent from that conference in three games tonight at 7:30 p.m., when Boston College comes to Briggs Cage for the Crimson's home opener.

Harvard lost to the Eagles, 87-86, last year in the third game of the season. It was possibly the toughest loss of the year for the cagers, who had the lead in the contest with less than a minute to play.

B.C. guard Dana Barros, who averaged 18.6 p.p.g. for the Eagles last season, is the man to watch. Barros can shoot the lights out anytime and anyplace.

Harvard Tri-Captain Mike Gielen has the unenviable task of stopping Barros, but the junior point guard isn't fazed. "He's an excellent player," Gielen said, "but I'm excited about matching up against him to test myself."

B.C. has beaten Harvard six straight times, dating back to the 1976-'77 season. The Crimson may be able to top the Eagles if its pressure defense can frustrate Barros.

Mal Content: Sophomore center Malcolm Hollensteiner had a fine afternoon Saturday against St. John's, scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

With his 7-for-10 shooting from the field, Hollensteiner quadrupled his entire offensive output from a year ago.

The key to the 6-ft., 11-in. center's success may be fashion. Hollensteiner has abandoned last year's look--taped goggles and funky, long boxer shorts. Now Mal looks, and shoots, much better.

Laudin' Louie: Crimson freshman Ralph James attended Archbishop Molloy High School in New York, which was known as St. Ann's School when Carnesecca was a student and basketball coach there.

The gravel-voiced St. John's coach had nothing but praise for his fellow alum, who many consider to be the "franchise" player for Harvard.

Boo Who: James had already faced two standout Redmen in high school--Jayson Williams, who scored 22 points against Harvard, and Greg "Boo" Harvey, who handed out seven assists, so at least the Crimson guard knew what he was up against.

"Jayson got a little stronger, but Boo is still the same player I saw in high school," James said. "He likes to penetrate and make the big play."