Ron Mvouika, Durand Johnson lead St. John's to another win
St. John's forward Ron Mvouika (24) handles the ball on offense against UMBC during a game at Carnesecca Arena on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015. Credit: Steven Ryan
On the one hand, new St. John's coach Chris Mullin brought in graduate transfers Ron Mvouika and Durand Johnson to help lead a young bunch of strangers who are building a team from scratch. On the other hand, both Mvouika and Johnson are coming off a year in which they were out of action.
But the two graduates found their stride during the second half of the Red Storm's 75-53 victory over University of Maryland-Baltimore County Monday night at Carnesecca Arena.
Johnson, who was suspended last season at Pitt, had all 15 of his points in the second half. Mvouika, who suffered a season-ending injury at Missouri State, had 10 of his 16 after intermission as St. John's (2-0) played its most cohesive game of the young season, including two exhibitions.
"D.J. and Ron were big-time," Mullin said. "They played like the leaders we need them to be. I'm happy for them."
Freshman point guard Federico Mussini led the Red Storm with 18 points and six assists, and freshman center Yankuba Sima was effective with eight points, nine rebounds and four of St. John's 11 blocked shots.
The Red Storm committed 18 turnovers and UMBC came up with 17 offensive rebounds, a combination that resulted in the Retrievers taking 15 more shots. But St. John's held them to 26.9 percent shooting.
UMBC opened the second half with a 9-2 run that cut the Red Storm's lead to 33-31. That's when Johnson went on a tear, hitting four straight shots and scoring 10 points in a 19-9 run that ended with Mvouika's three-pointer for a 52-40 lead.
"The first half, the exhibition games, I had a rocky start," Johnson said. "But my teammates came to me, especially Ron Mvouika. He told me, 'Let the first half go. Play your game right now.' He said everything I needed to hear. My confidence went sky-high, and I just let the game come to me and was able to make shots off good passes."
Mvouika, who made all four of his three-point attempts, played inspired. He comes from Paris, France, and learned of the tragic terrorist attacks in the moments after Friday night's win over Wagner.
"My phone was blowing up," Mvouika said. "The coaches told me in the locker room that something happened in Paris. I had to call my mom first, call my brothers, call everybody in the neighborhood to see if everybody was OK.
"Thank God no close friends of mine got hit. One of the explosions happened 25 minutes away from where I'm from. It's always hard, especially with social media and video showing up, and you can actually see people get hit. It touches home. Those are the kind of places I go when I'm back home. I definitely had them in my prayers. I'm going to dedicate that win to them."
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
