Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 25 Saint John's basketball outlasted a physical Wisconsin-La Crosse team for an 84-79 win on Tuesday, Nov. 20, in Collegeville.

The Johnnies (3-1 overall) shot a sizzling 72.7 percent (16-for-22) in the first half, including a 6-for-9 showing from long range, to take a 46-34 into the break. SJU cooled off in the second half (40.9 percent), however, and finished at 56.8 percent (25-for-44) for the game.

The Eagles (2-2 overall) committed 26 fouls in the contest, but turned SJU's 16 turnovers into 23 points and generated 23 more shot attempts than the Johnnies thanks to a 15-9 advantage on the offensive glass. SJU out-rebounded UWL overall, 34-29.

SJU led by 10 (58-48) with 7:17 remaining in last year's (Nov. 22, 2017) meeting at UWL, but scored only five points the rest of the way in a 65-63 loss. 



Senior guard David Stokman (Maple Lake, Minn.) led all scorers with 22 points, the 18th game of 20 points or more in his career, in a game-high 34 minutes. He added six assists and did not commit a turnover. The 22 points enabled Stokman to jump ahead of John Wiehoff '84, Joe Deignan '95 and former assistant coach Matt Ohme '07 into 21st on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,124 career points.

Junior post Lucas Walford (Elko, Minn./New Prague) posted his first double-double of the season, and fifth of his Johnnie career, with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Sophomore wing Oakley Baker (Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Heartland-Ellendale-Geneva) and sophomore post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) added 14 points apiece for SJU, which shot 75.8 percent (25-for-33) from the free-throw line.

Taulvish McCray led La Crosse with 20 points and Ben Meinholz added 15 points in only 13 minutes of play. Meinholz fouled out with 9:11 to play. SJU held Brendon Manning, who entered the game averaging a team-leading 19.7 points per game, to four points in 26 minutes.

The Johnnies open MIAC play with a 7 p.m. tip-off against Bethel next Wednesday, Nov. 28, in Sexton Arena.