Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 21 Saint John's basketball outlasted Hamline for a 77-74 win on Wednesday, Dec. 13, in Collegeville.

SJU (7-1, 4-0 MIAC) grabbed the offensive rebound on each of its final four missed field goals and scored eight of the team's 11 second-chance points in the game's final 3:43. The biggest was a three-pointer from senior guard Patrick Strom (Fargo, N.D./Shanley) with 1:33 left, which broke a 69-69 tie. 



Zach Smith answered for Hamline (3-5, 1-4 MIAC) on the other end, but junior guard David Stokman (Maple Lake, Minn.) banked an off-balance shot off the glass with 35 seconds remaining. Senior guard Garrett Goetz (Rosemount, Minn.) recorded his second blocked shot of the night, rejecting Jay Betts' three-point attempt, and sophomore post Lucas Walford (Elko, Minn./New Prague) made one of his two free-throw attempts to give the Johnnies a four-point lead (75-71) with 19 ticks left.

Smith made it a one-point game (75-74) on a three-pointer, but Stokman made both of his free throws to seal the win with 2.1 seconds remaining.

Stokman led all scorers with a season-high 28 points, his second 20-point game of the season and 13th of his career, thanks to a 6-for-8 showing from three-point range. He grabbed six rebounds and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Walford recorded his second double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, six of which were on the offensive glass. He collected three assists and three blocks.

Senior post Tyler Weiss (Shakopee, Minn.) tallied his second consecutive 19-point game and recorded four assists, while Goetz added seven points and eight assists.

Hamline's largest lead of the game was four (61-57) with 8:41 to play, but back-to-back three-pointers from Stokman put SJU back ahead less than a minute later.

Smith led the Pipers with 17 points and four assists, while Jay Betts added 15 points off the bench.

Down nine (39-30) with 1:26 left in the first half, HU registered three-pointers from Ethan Scheuring and Betts to cut its deficit to three at the break. The Pipers opened the second half by making seven of their first eight shots.

SJU finished a 54.9 percent (28-for-51) from the field, including 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from behind the arc. The Pipers made 64.3 percent (9-for-14) of their three-point attempts in the game and finished at 51.8 percent (29-for-56) overall. 

The Johnnies recorded a 33-23 advantage on the glass, but turned the ball over 12 times to the Pipers' four. HU out-scored the home team 15-2 off turnovers and 26-5 off the bench.

SJU wraps up its non-conference schedule against Wisconsin-Superior at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 29, in Sexton Arena.