Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 3 Saint John's basketball suffered its third loss of the season at an inopportune time, 80-68 in the MIAC Playoff semifinals on Friday, Feb. 23, in Collegeville.

The Auggies (20-7, 13-7 MIAC) advance to play Bethel, which defeated second-seeded St. Olaf 79-57 tonight, at 2 p.m. Sunday for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament and the MIAC Playoff title in Arden Hills.

The NCAA selection show is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 26, on ncaa.com.

Augsburg made its first five shots to gain an early 12-2 advantage and never relinquished its lead. SJU (23-3, 19-1 MIAC) chipped its deficit to three twice in the first half and trailed 34-29 at the break.

The Johnnies trailed by four (37-33) 3:25 into the second half, but the Auggies answered with an 11-2 run. Augsburg led by as much as 17 (58-41) with 8:46 to play, though SJU trimmed it to eight (66-58) with 3:07 remaining. Augsburg, however, made 11 of its final 12 free-throw attempts and finished at 88.9 percent (24-for-27) at the line (22-for-24 in the second half).

Senior post Tyler Weiss (Shakopee, Minn.) led all scorers with 23 points on 11 of 15 shooting. The rest of the team shot 31.9 percent (15-for-47) from the field. The 20-point game was his eighth of the season and 18th of his career.

Junior guard David Stokman (Maple Lake, Minn.) followed with 16 points, 13 of which came in the game's final 4:44.

Kevin McKiernan and Collin Olmscheid led five Auggies in double figures with 21 points apiece.

SJU out-rebounded the visitors 38-30, including a 12-4 advantage on the offensive glass, of which the Johnnies totaled 17 second-chance points (17-4). The Auggies, however, scored 17 points off 15 Johnnie turnovers.

The Johnnies entered the game as Division III's top shooting team (.518) and third from three-point range (.426), but finished at 41.9 percent (26-for-62) overall and 30.8 percent (8-for-26) from behind the arc.