St. John’s Buries USD Early in Lapchick Tournament

NEW YORK —  Malik Sealy scored 20 points Saturday and No. 20 St. John’s beat the University of San Diego, 74-59, in the opening round of the Lapchick Memorial Tournament.

The Redmen (4-1) play Wright State in today’s championship game. Wright State (2-0) beat South Alabama, 96-82, in the other first-round game.

Gylan Dottin scored 12 points and John Jerome added 10 for USD (2-2), which plays South Alabama (1-2) in today’s consolation game.

St. John’s has never lost a game in the tournament it hosts, and the 15th edition’s first game was never in doubt. The Redmen jumped to an 18-2 lead and led, 42-12, with 4:09 left in the first half. USD made just eight of 32 field goal attempts (25%) in the first half.

“I think we were intimidated early on,” USD Coach Hank Egan said. “We had that look that can put you in a catatonic state. I’m not proud of the way they played, but I’m proud of these people.

“You can run, but you can’t hide. You have to play all 40 minutes.”

The Redmen dominated the boards, and the Toreros couldn’t keep up with the running game as they didn’t break into double figures until 7:28 was left in the half.

Every St. John’s player available played in the first half, and the Redmen’s biggest lead of the first half was the half-time margin of 50-18.

St. John’s then opened the second half with an 8-3 run for its largest lead of the game, 58-21 with 16:08 left.

The Redmen then went scoreless for the next 4:50 and were not as sharp as in the first half while USD chipped away at the lead. USD outscored St. John’s, 41-24, in the second half. The final score was the closest margin of the second half.