QUEENS, NY – Rodney Henderson, Jr. (Carson, CA/Avon Old Farms [CSUN]) led the Rider University men's basketball team with 20 points, but the Broncs were edged by St. John's, 82-79, Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena. With the loss, the Broncs drop to 0-2, while the Red Storm is now 5-1.

After the Red Storm jumped out to a 9-2 lead, the Broncs gradually whittled away before consecutive Murray, Jr. jumpers, the second from long range, gave Rider its first lead, 16-15, at the 10:14 mark. Eight lead changes later, the Broncs took a 35-33 lead into the break on Jeremiah Pope's (Clinton, NC/Clinton [Brunswick C.C.]) three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining in the period.

An 8-0 run early in the second half pushed Rider's lead to double-digits at 48-37 with 16:17 remaining, the final five points coming from Allen Powell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle College H.S.). A 14-3 stretch for the Red Storm later in the period gave the lead back to St. John's, 57-56, with 10:15 remaining.

Tyrel Bladen (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) responded with five-straight points as the Broncs retook the lead and maintained an advantage as large as six until an 11-2 St. John's run gave the Red Storm a 75-72 lead with 1:51 remaining. Rider twice cut the deficit to one on buckets from Powell and Dontrell McQuarter (Baton Rouge, LA/Believe Prep [Hinds C.C.]). But a Vince Cole three-pointer made it a two-possession game with 30 seconds left and the Broncs would draw no closer.

Quotes & Notes
"I was proud of our guys. There's no moral victories, by no means, for us. But I was proud of the way our guys competed tonight. I thought we had opportunities to close out and win the game. But we've just got to get better in those situations of taking care of the ball and executing down the stretch. And we had a couple of breakdowns on the defensive end that we've got to get better at. But it's still early. We get a chance to go back and watch some film with the guys here in the next couple of days before we get ready for Manhattan. I was encouraged. I was proud of the guys for competing the way that we asked them to compete." – Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett

- Rider and St. John's were playing for just second time since the 1950-51 season. The Red Storm now leads, 12-0.
- McQuarter and Powell each made their first starts as Broncs. It was also McQuarter's Rider debut after he missed the opener vs. Syracuse.
- Rider has not defeated a current member of the Big East since Feb. 15, 1945, when the Broncs defeated Providence. Rider's last win over a Big East team at the time of the game was a 61-57 win at Rutgers on Dec. 21, 2007.
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- Henderson made 6-of-12 attempts, including 6-of-9 from long range. His six three-pointers made eclipsed his previous career high of five, established at Cal State Northridge.
- Murray had 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a team-high 38 minutes played. It was his second-straight game with at least 19 points, six assists and six rebounds.
- Powell scored a career-high 17 points, easily eclipsing his previous career high of nine points last season at UMass. He connected on 6-of-9 attempts, including 3-of-6 from long range, and added a pair of assists.
- Bladen established new career highs of 10 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks in a career-high 28 minutes played.
- Pope and McQuarter also contributed early season highs of seven and six points, respectively. McQuarter also contributed five rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
- Rider outshot St. John's, 49.1 percent (28-57) to 47.1 percent (33-70) from the floor, 45.8 percent (11-24) to 27.8 percent (5-18) from long range and 70.6 percent (12-17) to 61.1 percent (11-18) from the free-throw line.
- The Red Storm took a 41-30 edge on the glass.  
- Rider's 11 made three-pointers were more than any game last season. The last time the Broncs made more three-pointers were the 12 it connected on against Marist on March 3, 2019.