UNC Asheville 72, St. John’s 65: Jeremy Atkinson scored a career-high 31 points as the visiting Bulldogs rallied from 12 points down with just over 12 minutes remaining.

Atkinson, a 6-4 senior forward, scored 17 points in the final push for Asheville (5-7). He also had nine rebounds and shot 10-for-11 from the free-throw line. Keith Hornsby contributed 14 points and Will Weeks had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Bulldogs.

D’Angelo Harrison scored 24 points to lead St. John’s (8-4), which led by as many as 17 points in the first half. JaKarr Sampson was the only other player for the Red Storm in double figures, finishing with 17.

Asheville closed the first half on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 10. The Red Storm pushed the lead back to 12 with 12:10 remaining on a 3-pointer by Harrison, but the Bulldogs came back with an 11-0 run to shrink the lead to one.

After trading baskets over the next minute, Asheville strung together 10 unanswered points to move ahead 65-58 with 4:33 remaining. The Red Storm came back with seven straight points until Hornsby ended the run with a 3-pointer with 1:30 remaining. Harrison missed a jumper with 1:03 left, and Trent Meyer stole the ball from him with 12 seconds remaining, allowing Atkinson to seal the victory with four free throws in the final seconds.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Jamal Branch, a 6-3 sophomore point guard, made his debut for St. John’s after sitting out the fall semester following his transfer from Texas A&M. He finished with two points and two assists. … Marco Bourgault, a 6-6 sophomore wing for St. John's, made his first career start. Bourgault, a native of France who played at Monroe College in New York last season, finished with eight points. … The Red Storm entered the week leading the nation in blocked shots at nine per game. They finished with 13.