Harrison, No. 20 St John's rally past Saint Mary's

NEW YORK - D'Angelo Harrison scored 21 points and No. 20 St. John's overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to rally past Saint Mary's 53-47 on Friday night.

The Red Storm (9-1) trailed 33-18 at the break. St. John's opened the second half with a 27-8 run to take the lead.

Sir'Dominic Pointer added 11 points and 11 rebounds for St. John's.

Brad Waldow had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels (6-3).

The Red Storm has won twice in three all-time meetings against the West Coast Conference team. The Gaels' lone victory came on Nov. 16, 2010, in Steve Lavin's first game as the coach at St. John's.

Pointer's two foul shots with 8:04 remaining gave St. John's a 43-41 lead, its first edge since the early minutes.

The Red Storm's defense sparked the run, forcing nine turnovers in the second half and limiting Saint Mary's to 26.1 percent shooting. St. John's shot 13 of 28 in the final 20 minutes.

Dane Pineau cut the Gaels' gap to 48-47 with a three-point play. Pointer came back with a jumper, and he combined with Phil Greene IV to make three free throws in the final 11 seconds.

Waldow and the Gaels took their big lead by holding St. John's to only six baskets in the first half. It took the Red Storm nearly 13 minutes to break into double-figure scoring.

TIP-INS

Saint Mary's: The Gaels entered the game with a 99-28 record against non-West Coast Conference opponents.

St. John's: Senior center Joey De La Rosa made his season debut. He had to sit out the first nine games of the season after transferring from Florida International.

UP NEXT

St. Mary's hosts Northeastern on Monday.

St. John's hosts Long Beach State on Monday.