Vince Cole scored 26 points, Julian Champagnie followed with 18 and Marcellus Earlington added 16 as host St. John's survived a scare from visiting Rider 82-79 in Queens, N.Y., on Tuesday.

Champagnie added 10 rebounds for the Red Storm (5-1), who shot 63.3 percent in the second half in storming back from an 11-point deficit. The trio scored a combined 41 of their points in the second half.

Rodney Henderson Jr. scored 20 points, including 6 of 9 on 3-pointers, to lead the Broncs (0-2). Dwight Murray Jr. netted 19, and Allen Powell added 17 as Rider shot 49.1 percent for the game, including 45.8 percent from long range.

Rider, in fact, led 48-37 about four minutes into the second half but that's when St. John's went on a 19-8 burst. By the midpoint of the second half, the Johnnies led 57-56, although the Broncs weren't going away.

Rider scrapped back to a 72-68 advantage, but Cole led the Red Storm in the closing minutes. St. John's outscored the Broncs, 14-7 in the final 2:45, with Cole scoring 10 of the points.

St. John's finished at 47.1 percent from the floor and 27.8 percent on 3-pointers.

Rider emerged with a 35-33 lead at halftime as the Broncs' better shooting offset the Red Storm's dominance on the boards.

Rider shot 44 percent from the field and 38.5 percent (5 for 13) on 3-pointers, while St. John's finished the half at 35 percent and 11.1 percent (1 for 9).

The Red Storm missed a number of shots inside, made possible by 12 offensive rebounds among their 26 for the half, while the Broncs had 16 in the half (all but one on defense).

Murray led all scorers at the break with 11 points, followed by eight from Henderson, who hit 2 of 4 from long range.

Cole scored nine to pace St. John's, which had eight players in the scoring column. Cole also had seven rebounds in the first half.

The lead changed hands nine times in the half, the last coming when Jeremiah Pope hit his second 3-pointer with 19 seconds left to give the Broncs the 35-33 lead.

In the second half, Rider led most of the way before Cole took control.

--Field Level Media