Nurideen Lindsey scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half to lead St. John’s to 74-59 victory over William & Mary on Monday night in the opening round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
God’sgift Achiuwa and Moe Harkless both added 17 points for the Red Storm (1-0), who were without head coach Steve Lavin, who is recovering from prostate cancer surgery on Oct. 6.
Quinn McDowell had 20 points for William & Mary (0-1), which made seven 3-pointers in taking a 33-26 halftime lead.
McDowell scored to open the second half for a nine-point lead but the Red Storm went on a 22-5 run that saw them make 10 of 14 shots, all but two from inside. Sir’Dominic Pointer’s 3 gave St. John’s a 48-40 lead.
Julian Boatner hit a 3 for William & Mary, but the Red Storm scored the next nine points for a 57-43 lead with 9:30 to play.
St. John’s shot 67.9 percent from the field (19 of 28) in the second half.