Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's basketball opened its conference schedule with an impressive 79-63 home win over Bethel, a rematch of the 2017 MIAC Playoff title game, on Saturday, Dec. 2, in Collegeville.
Senior post
Tyler Weiss (Shakopee, Minn.) became the 36th Johnnie to reach 1,000 career points on a layup with 2:08 remaining in the first half. He led five Johnnies in double figures with 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season and 13th of his career.
The lead exchanged hands four times in the game's first 12 minutes until SJU (4-1, 1-0 MIAC) closed the half with a 23-8 run to take a 40-26 lead into the break. The Johnnies led by as much as 21 in the game and by double digits for the final 22:43.
SJU shot 54.4 percent (31-for-57) for the game and out-rebounded BU (4-2, 0-2 MIAC), which shot 37.5 percent (21-for-56) from the floor, by a 35-28 margin.
Both teams received votes in the latest D3hoops.com national rankings released Nov. 20.
Senior guard
Patrick Strom (Fargo, N.D./Shanley) and sophomore wing
Jubie Alade (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) scored 13 points apiece, while senior guard
Brent Hentges (Carver, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) added 12 points and three assists off the bench. Strom made three treys to move into second in school history with 173 in his career, seven behind the record of 180 held by Larry Bassett '92.
Senior guard
Garrett Goetz (Rosemount, Minn.) poured in 10 points and recorded five assists. Sophomore post
Lucas Walford (Elko, Minn./New Prague) collected six points and 10 rebounds. Plagued by foul trouble, junior guard
David Stokman (Maple Lake, Minn.) scored seven points in only 19 minutes on the court.
Matt Ambriz led all scorers with 19 points on 5-for-7 shooting from three-point range off the bench for the Royals. Ambriz (13 points) and post Derek Magnuson (11 points) accounted for 24 of BU's 26 first-half points. Magnuson finished with 16 points and seven boards.
SJU has now won each of its last nine meetings with Bethel in Sexton Arena and touts a 32-13 record in its MIAC opener since the Warner Palaestra was built in Collegeville (1973-74), including a 23-2 record in Sexton Arena (10-1 in the last 11 openers).
The Johnnies travel to face Macalester (1-4, 0-2 MIAC) for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at the Leonard Center in St. Paul.
