Lance Stephenson had a simple goal for his return to the Garden last night.
“I expected to play the best game of my college career,” the Cincinnati star said after he and the Bearcats coughed up a late lead and lost to St. John’s, 52-50. “But today wasn’t a good day for me.”
On the court where he led Lincoln to four straight PSAL titles, Stephenson struggled throughout and then had an inbounds pass stolen by former John F. Kennedy standout Dwight Hardy with seven seconds left.
Hardy was fouled and made the winning free throws. The dramatic turn of events dropped the Bearcats to 11-6 (2-3 Big East) and made Stephenson 0-1 against the team he had turned down.
“I wasn’t expecting it to be this tough, but at the end we made bad decisions,” said Stephenson, who earlier in the week ruffled feathers by saying Mick Cronin was a better coach than Norm Roberts.
“Their defense gave us a lot of pressure,” he said. “We weren’t prepared for that.”
Stephenson finished with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, with five assists and six turnovers.
“We just wanted to spoil his homecoming basically,” Hardy said. “They needed a win, but we needed it more . . . so we just wanted to get in his head and keep him from scoring as much points as possible.”
They weren’t the only ones with that goal, as the sparse Garden crowd booed Stephenson throughout the game.
“You can’t come into a game worrying about what the crowd will say or do, so I don’t really care about that,” Stephenson said. “I was too excited today. I couldn’t make the baskets I usually make.”
Roberts still came away impressed with the 6-foot-5 freshman who said he hasn’t decided whether he’s going pro after this season.
“Lance is a terrific player,” Roberts said. “He’s gonna be an NBA player. I wish him all the best. I just don’t want him to beat us. He’s a New York kid, I’m a New York guy. I love all New York guys, even if they don’t play for me.”