NEW YORK – Sophomore Justin Ingram scored 19 second-half points to help St. John’s University (4-6) defeat Niagara University (7-3), 72-65, in a men’s basketball non-conference game Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Ingram, who finished with a game-high 21 points, scored eight of his points during a game-changing 13-4 run in the middle of the second half. With Niagara leading 46-38, Ingram and the Red Storm scored four straight times down the court before junior Juan Mendez (Montreal, Quebec) stopped the run with a basket with 10:41 remaining in the half

Ingram tied the game at 48, but a Tremmell Darden (Las Vegas, Nev.) dunk gave Niagara the led. Ingram then sank a three-pointer to return the lead to St. John’s 51-50. Niagara freshman Lorenzo Miles (Washington, D.C.) tied the game with a free throw with 7:27 left, but Ingram scored on a running jumper to give the Red Storm the lead the remainder of the game.

Mendez registered his third double-double of the season and 17th of his career with a team-high 20 points and career-high 16 rebounds. Darden had 17 points and junior David Brooks (Philadelphia, Pa.) netted 14.

Niagara committed 17 turnovers and St. John’s scored 22 points on the turnovers. The Red Storm also had 10 second-chance points despite the Purple Eagles winning the battle on the boards, 49-38.

"I think the story of the game is we turned it over 17 times against a team that played half court defense," Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. "Coming into the game we wanted to keep them out of the paint. Keep them from getting second-chance shots and their transition baskets. They had that one stretch (in the second half) where all three of those things were happening. They got some second-chance shots, they scored some transition baskets and they got into the paint when they wanted to. That one stretch took the wind out of our sails. We allowed it to be a seven minute game they could win."

In the first half, Niagara gave up an 11-2 lead to start the game. The Purple Eagles responded with a 20-7 run to take its largest lead of the half, 25-21. The teams traded the lead and were tied twice before Niagara used a 7-4 run and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Miles to take a 34-32 lead at halftime.

For the game, Niagara shot a season low 35.4 percent from the field and 56.5 percent from the free-throw line. The loss also snapped the Purple Eagles’ four-game road winning streak and extended their losing streak to six games vs. St. John’s.

The Purple Eagles return to action Monday when they play American at 7 p.m. in Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.