Box Score

Box Score | Listen to Archived Game

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Saint John's opened its 2013-14 basketball season with a hard-fought 80-74 loss at Division II St. Cloud State on Saturday, Nov. 16, in St. Cloud.

SJU cut its deficit to three, 67-64, with 2:45 remaining, but St. Cloud State (2-0 overall) made its final two shot attempts and went 9-for-12 from the free-throw line to clinch the victory.

Senior Patrick Butcher (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) led five Johnnies in double figures with a career-high 17 points off the bench and also set new career marks in rebounds (6) and three-pointers (5) in the loss. SJU out-rebounded the Huskies 41-25 and held a 42-10 scoring advantage off the bench.

Junior Blake Maslonkowski (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) tallied 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting and seven rebounds in his Johnnie debut. Sophomore Alex Schmitt (Chaska, Minn./Waconia) added 11 points off the bench.

SCSU's Matt Craggs led all scorers with 23 points and Jordan Poydras added 19. The Huskies shot 52.1 percent from the field (25-for-48), including a 56.5-percent mark (13-for-23) in the second half, and converted 13 SJU turnovers into 15 points.

The Johnnies return to Halenbeck Hall to face St. Scholastica at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17.