St. John’s 63, Saint Joseph’s 61: Sir’Dominic Pointer finished with 15 points – including the game-winning jumper as time expired – as the visiting Red Storm overcame a double-digit, second-half deficit to defeat the Hawks in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.

Pointer tallied seven rebounds and five assists while JaKarr Sampson scored 16 points for St. John’s (17-15), which snapped a five-game losing streak and won their first game since leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison was suspended March 1. The Red Storm will play Virginia in the second round.

Carl Jones led all scorers with 21 points and Halil Kanacevic grabbed 12 rebounds for Saint Joseph’s (18-14).

The Hawks led by as many as 12 points early in the second half and held a 51-40 advantage with 11:03 left following a 3-pointer from Langston Galloway, but missed 13 of their next 14 shots. The Red Storm scored 20 of the next 25 points and used the Saint Joseph’s dry spell to take their first lead since midway through the first half on a layup from Amir Garrett.

St. John’s increased its lead to 60-56 following a dunk from Chris Obekpa, but Jones ended a field-goal drought of 5:08 with a jumper with 46 seconds remaining. After Ronald Roberts Jr. knotted the game at 61 with five seconds left, Pointer drove the length of the court and nailed a fadeaway jumper.

GAME NOTEBOOK: St. John’s, which has appeared at this event more than any other team, secured its NIT-best 41st victory. … Saint Joseph’s has not recorded a postseason win – NCAA or NIT – since defeating Rutgers in this event in 2006. … The Red Storm did not attempt their first free throws until Jamal Branch made a pair with 9:04 remaining. The team finished 4-of-6 from the foul line.