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QUEENS, NY—NJIT junior Damon Lynn scored a season-high 32 points to lead four Highlander double-figure scorers Sunday afternoon in an 83-74 win at St. John's in what was a historic first-ever win for the visitors against a team from the vaunted BIG EAST Conference.
 
Lynn, who played all 40 minutes in the landmark victory, shot 9-for-16 from the field overall, including 5-for-10 on 3-point attempts and he was 9-for-10 at the foul line. His career scoring high is 34 points, scored at North Carolina A&T in January of his freshman season.
 
Lynn scored 9 of his points in a decisive 15-0 second-half four-minute NJIT run that flipped a 50-47 deficit into a 62-50 lead with 9:46 remaining in the contest.
 
NJIT, now 7-5 after beating St. John's, had tried and come up short in 21 previous games all-time vs. BIG EAST teams. Coincidentally, Sunday's win at St. John's came  in the same venue (Carnesecca Arena) almost nine years to the day after the first-ever game between the Highlanders and a BIG EAST foe (on December 21, 2006, NJIT lost at St. John's, 68-50).
 
Joining Lynn in scoring double-digits for the Highlanders were his Hillside, NJ, boyhood friend Chris Jenkins (career-high 19 points); Ky Howard (12 points, season-high 9 assists); and, Tim Coleman (10 points, 11 rebounds; third double-double of the season; two in the last three games).
 
Jenkins, who scored a high of 17 points playing as a freshman at Hofstra in 2013-14, sat out last season under NCAA transfer rules. He has come off the bench in seven appearances for NJIT this season, seeing more playing time the last three games in the absence of injured senior Winfield Willis. On Sunday, Jenkins was a huge factor, connecting on 7-of-8 of eight shots, including 5-of-6 from downtown.
 
With the Hillside duo of Lynn and Jenkins combining for 10 3-point baskets, NJIT was 11-for-20 on threes (55 percent). On the other end, St. John's (7-5) shot just 8-for-32 (25 percent) from distance.
 
The Red Storm had five double-figure scorers, paced by 20 points from Federico Mussini, a freshman from Italy who is rated one of the top European players in his age group. Graduate student Ron Mvouika added 12 points for St. John's, while freshman Malik Ellison came off the SJU bench for 11 points and Christian Jones and Durand Johnson each scored 10.
 
Jones, a junior forward added 11 rebounds for a double-double and 6-foot-11 freshman Yankuba Sima collected a game-best 14 rebounds for the home team, which outrebounded the Highlanders, 45-36. St. John's had 22 offensive rebounds, which paid off in a 19-5 advantage in second-chance points for St. John's.
 
NJIT held a 39-35 halftime lead, as Jenkins fired in 16 points in 12 minutes of action, followed closely by Lynn's 14 first-half points.
 
Those two combined to make 7-of-11 threes (64 percent) and NJIT's field goal percentage in the opening 20 minutes was over 59 percent (13-for-22) to go with 6-for-7 shooting at the foul line.
 
At the same time, St. John's, topped by Mvouika's 9 points, shot just 33 percent (12-for-36) from the floor, including 4-for-16 on threes and a poor 7-for-14 at the foul line. However, the Red Storm trailed at the break by just four points, due largely to a 23-13 rebounding advantage that helped SJU get off 14 more shots than NJIT did. The second-chance points were 8-0 for St. John's in the first half.
 
The Highlanders took their biggest lead of the opening half, 38-28, after a Jenkins triple with 1:54 remaining. But St. John's used a 6-1 run the rest of way to close the gap heading into the locker room ath the half.
 
The Red Storm sustained its momentum in the early portion of the second half and surged ahead 47-44 on Kassoum Yakwe's jump shot with 15:17 remaining.
 
Jenkins answered for NJIT with a 3-pointer that tied the score, the second of four ties between the 17:33 and 13:46 marks.
 
What would be the last tie of the game came when Lynn's 3-pointer made the score 50-50 with 13:46 remaining. That three was the first of seven straight points for Lynn, who triggered the Highlanders' 15-0 charge in a span of four minutes that ended with a 62-50 NJIT lead at the 9:46 mark.
 
St. John's fought back and gradually whittled the NJIT lead to three points, 75-72, after a pair of Durand Johnson foul shots with 55 seconds left.
 
But the Highlanders closed out the game with an 8-2 finish that included a bucket by Lynn and two free throws apiece for Coleman, Lynn and Howard in the final 34 seconds.
 
The Highlanders, who had last played on December 12 before visiting St. John's will have another eight-day break before the next game.
 
NJIT returns to action at home in the Fleisher Athletic Center in a 7 pm game on December 28 against Stony Brook.
 
The Sea Wolves, who are considered a strong contender to win the America East Conference, are 6-4 this season after beating Long Island rival Hofstra on Sunday afternoon. They will visit Lehigh on Tuesday ahead of their trip to Newark on the 28th.
 
A season ago, Stony Brook was 23-12, including a 51-50 loss at UAlbany in the 2015 America East championship game.