Senior Alvin Cruz registered his first collegiate double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 assists.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – With five players scoring in double figures, the Niagara University men’s basketball team recorded a 102-81 non-conference victory over St. John’s Saturday night in front of a sold-out (2,400) Gallagher Center crowd. The 102 points scored by the Purple Eagles are the most in the history of their 92-game series with St. John’s and the win was the first against a Big East Conference team for Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich.

Niagara’s victory was its 24th in the series and first since an 86-63 win on Dec. 26, 1997, at Madison Square Garden.

Leading the way offensively was senior forward Juan Mendez (Montreal) with 34 points. The performance his sixth career game with 30-or-more points and pushed his career total to 1,611 points, seventh-best all-time at Niagara. Mendez passed Al Butler (1,596) and Joe Arlauckas (1,610).

Sophomore forward J.R. Duffey (Fort Worth, Texas) netted a career-high 16 points while senior point guard Alvin Cruz (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico) picked up his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 assists. Sophomore guard Lorenzo Miles (Washington, D.C.) and junior forward James Mathis (Newark, N.J.) each recorded 10 points.

The Purple Eagles, now 3-1, opened the game with a 7-0 run and extended the lead to 30-13 after Mendez sank two free throws with 9:55 to play. Mendez scored 21 of his points in the first half as Niagara shot 65.7 percent (23-of-35) in the first 20 minutes. Niagara’s lead first hit 30 points on a three-pointer by Duffey to make it 57-27 with 2:22 to play. The Purple Eagles’ biggest lead was 34 points, 61-27, after a fast-break dunk by Mendez. Niagara held a 61-30 lead at the half.

Niagara held a 19-10 edge in rebounds, highlighted by five offensive caroms and the Purple Eagles scored a total of 13 points after St. John’s committed a turnover.

St. John’s (1-2) opened the second half with a 12-2 run to make it 63-42 with 17:06 remaining. The Red Storm made 61.3 percent (19-of-31) of its field-goal attempts in the second half as they scored 51 points.

Niagara opens Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Canisius at the Koessler Center.