It has been almost a year since Steve Lavin coached a game for St. John’s, but now that he’s back and free of cancer, he has the Red Storm right where he left them. In his first game back on the bench, Lavin coached St. John’s to an ugly but still pleasant 77–74 win over Detroit at Carnesecca Arena in Jamaica. St. John’s trailed for most of the game, but they made a late second-half run and still almost faced overtime with a last-second shot at the buzzer. The Red Storm’s leading scorer was Phil Greene IV with twenty points, and Chris Obekpa had eleven rebounds and a school-record seven blocks. Say what you will about a Tuesday afternoon start, but the game drew quite a crowd of big names, from the broadcast team of John Saunders, Fran Fraschilla, and Chris Mullin to fans Danny Ainge and Coach Carnesecca himself. Weekday afternoon basketball is so great. We look forward to its return in March.