After sophomore guard Matt McQuaid opened the second half with a jump shot from the field, St. John's would score seven points to regain the lead, with the help of a three-pointer by freshman guard Shamorie Ponds and a pair of free throws by redshirt-freshman Marcus LoVett. 

Both teams would remain in a back-and-forth affair throughout the duration of the second half, with the Spartans taking the narrow advantage. With just over seven minutes to play in regulation, MSU extended their two-point lead by going on a 12-0 run with a three-pointer by Nassau, Bahamas native and junior guard Lourawls "Tum Tum" Narin Jr., and back-to-back scores in the paint from freshman forward Nick Ward.

As a whole, the Spartans shot 43.1 percent from the field, including 9-of-24 shots from downtown with 19 total fouls. The only Spartan to foul out was redshirt-sophomore forward Kenny Goins. 

In contrast to a 31-point performance in a close win against Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, fifth-year senior guard Eron Harris followed up with 14 points, going 3-of-13 from the field, but was perfect from the free throw line. Bridges finished the contest with a game-high 22 points and a game-high and 15 rebounds. Nairn also reached double-digit figures with 13 points, making 3-of-4 from behind the arc.

St. John's, in comparison, shot 30.8 from the floor with LoVett leading the team in both points (20) and rebounds (7). As a team, the Red Storm committed 24 fouls, with both forward Tariq Owens and guard Bashir Ahmed fouling out of the game.

With the victory, the Spartans improve to 3-2 overall, while St. John's falls to 2-2 overall on the season. The win for MSU means they will advance to play Baylor in the second round of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Thursday. The Bears defeated the VCU Rams on Wednesday by a final score of 73-61. Tipoff is 12 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN.