God’sgift Achiuwa had 21 points and eight rebounds and St. John’s rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit for a 78-73 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday night to give coach Steve Lavin a win in his return to the bench a month after prostate cancer surgery.

The Red Storm were down 60-46 with 11:09 to play, then turned on the defensive intensity in holding the Mountain Hawks scoreless for almost 6 minutes to get back in the game. St. John’s then kept it up over the final minutes to take control and give Lavin the victory.

Lavin made a surprising and understated return, walking out to the court just minutes after the Red Storm came out for pregame warmups. The students behind both baskets erupted into cheers and started chanting, “We love Lavin!”