PISCATAWAY – Sophomore Issa Thiam deposited a put-back with 2.8 seconds remaining to help Rutgers to an 80-78, come-from-behind, victory over metro rival St. John's in a charity exhibition game Sunday afternoon at the RAC. Senior Deshawn Freeman had a double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds in the contest, with all net proceeds to be donated to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.

"I want to thank St. John's," said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. "Without them, we wouldn't have been able to do this. It was a great environment. I want to thank the people that came out. The money is going to a great cause. It was a good day. We learned a lot about our team. We have a lot of things to be excited about, but we also have a lot of things to work on."

Rutgers trailed by 11 with just over 10 minutes to play, before going on a 19-6 run to set the stage for the exciting finish. The Scarlet Knights made 19 of 28 from the field after the break.

"That's a good team," said St. John's head coach Chris Mullin. "They were very physical. They like to crash the boards. If they crash the boards and shoot 68 percent like they did in the second half, they'll never lose."

Freeman shot 9-of-13, as the Scarlet Knights made 50 percent (28-of-56) of their field goal attempts, while also limiting the Red Storm to 26.1 percent (6-of-23) shooting from behind the arc. RU out-scored the visitors 42-38 in the paint and established a 20-11 advantage in second chance points.

"I liked that we competed," said Pikiell. "We were down 11 and made stops when we had to. I liked the approach to the game. I liked that a lot of guys contributed in a lot of different ways."

Freeman was joined in double figures by guards Mike Williams and Corey Sanders, who contributed 18 and 16 points, respectively. Sanders shot 6-of-12 and 3-of-3 from long range, while Williams made 7-of-10 FGAs and 2-of-4 from behind the arc.

"St. John's is a great team," said Sanders. "To get the win shows how hard we've been working, and there's more to look forward to. That was a great exhibition game, with great energy, and for a great cause. Now we just have to get back to work and get ready for the game coming up."

Four players scored in double-digits for St. John's, which was led by Shamorie Ponds with 25 points. The Red Storm led for more than 25 minutes in the game, which featured 12 lead changes and six ties.

Rutgers opens its regular season with a 7 p.m. tip-off Friday evening versus CCNY at the RAC. The game will be streamed live on BTN Plus.

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