Julian Champagnie came off the bench in his season debut to score a career-high 29 points to lead the St. John's Red Storm past the Boston College Eagles, 97-93, on Monday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Boston College (1-2) was down 20 in the second half before a 14-2 run got it back in the game, and the Eagles eventually made it a one-point game in the final minute.

But the Storm's Greg Williams made 3-of-5 free throws, and BC's Jay Heath missed two would-be tying 3-pointers -- one of them blocked by Champagnie -- in the final seconds.

Champagnie missed the first two games of the season with an ankle injury for the Storm (3-0). He made 11-of-20 from the floor, including 2-of-5 on 3-pointers. He also converted 5-for-5 free throws and added 10 rebounds.

The Storm are still not completely healthy because guard Rasheem Dunn (concussion) missed his second straight game.

Even so, the Storm got a third consecutive strong performance from true freshman point guard Posh Alexander, who had 18 points, five assists and four rebounds. He made 7-of-11 shots from the floor, and one of his misses was an open dunk, losing control of the ball on his windmill attempt.

Williams had 17 points on 5-for-6 shooting and added six assists for the Storm.

Boston College had five double-figure scorers: Wynston Tabbs (23), CJ Felder (18), Heath (13), Makai Ashton-Langford (13) and Rich Kelly (11).

Heath (foot injury) returned after missing one game. He averaged 13.1 points last season, which ranked second on the team.

BC got off to starts of 5-0 and 19-9, but St. John's battled back and took its first lead, 34-32, on Isaih Moore's dunk with 5:50 left in the first half.

The Storm, with a 17-4 run, went into halftime on top, 52-40. Alexander had 16 points at the half on 6-for-6 shooting, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. As a team, St. John's shot a blistering 56.8 percent from the floor compared to 44.8 percent for BC.

St. John's built its lead to 20 points, but BC responded with a 14-0 run. The Eagles cut their deficit to 75-59 on Ashton-Langford's layup with 9:56 left in the second half.

But Champagnie scored the next four points -- a layup and two free throws -- and the Storm regained control before that final Eagles push.

--Field Level Media