Cole Comes Up Clutch and Lifts St. John's Past Rider

 

        For the second time in 6 games, Vince Cole’s clutch shooting helped St. John’s avoid an upset. In the season opener against St. Peter’s, he hit the game winner in the game’s closing moments.  This time was a bit different but no less clutch as he scored 12 of his game high 26 points in the game’s final 2:45 to help the Johnnies squeak by Rider 82-79 at Carnesecca Arena last night. Julian Champagnie added 18 points and 10 boards while Marcellus Earlington added 16 points to aid St. John’s cause.

    Due to virus related schedule changes the Broncs were playing in just their second game this season.  Despite a roster that included 12 newcomers, a trio of talented guards helped coach Kevin Baggett’s team play with poise and confidence from start to finish. Transfer Dwight Murray jr, sophomore Alan Powell and graduate transfer Rodney Henderson helped Rider find some traction after a 9-2 start by St. John’s. Murray skillfully navigated St. John’s pressure. Rider not only limited their turnovers to just 13 for the game, the good ball movement allowed them to make the three-point line an equalizer against the more athletic Red Storm. As a team they connected on 11 triples in 24 tries. Five of those came in the first 20 minutes where St. John’s, by contrast, shot just 1-9 from beyond the arc. Despite the early quick start by St. John’s the first half featured 9 lead changes. The last of those came on a triple by reserve Jeremiah Pope and sent Rider to the locker room with a 35-33 advantage at the half.

            Rider made a strong bid to gain control of the game with a 13-4 run that gave them a 48-37 margin with 16:17 seconds left. Murray controlled the pace of the game while Powell and Henderson each hit shots from deep. A triple from Powell culminated the rally and forced coach Anderson to call time out.

    St. John’s responded with a 13-2 run of their own behind tough inside work by Earlington and Champagnie. When Murray set up Henderson for a triple to make the score 56-50, St. John’s responded with a triple from Earlington courtesy of a Dylan Adde-Wusu assist. With the score 56-53 Champagne converted an offensive rebound, and then slammed home a feed from Greg Williams to give St. John’s a 57-56 lead with 10:15 remaining.

            From that point the two teams went back and forth and to their credit the Broncs continued to make winning plays with Murray at the controls, Henderson and Powell making shots and reserve center Tyrel Bladen providing energy and one very clutch jump hook shot inside. Despite the late clutch shooting by Cole and a timely foul line jumper by Earlington St. John’s could not gain a 2-possession lead until a three pointer by Cole made the score 80-76 with 30 seconds left. From there two more free throws by Cole and a late trey by Powell provided the final margin. Despite a terrific effort that included a game high 26 points from Henderson and a fine 19 point 7 assist effort from Murray, St. John’s inside scoring, a 46-20 advantage in the paint made the difference. With the conference schedule needing to be re-configured as teams grapple with COVID-19, St. John’s which was originally scheduled to open   conference play with UConn will instead open at Seton Hall on Friday at 4:30 pm.