Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 17 Saint John's basketball out-lasted Augsburg in a battle for second place in the conference standings, 82-71, on Monday, Feb. 4, in Collegeville.

The Johnnies (17-4, 13-3 MIAC) overcame foul trouble with balanced scoring and a 37-26 advantage on the glass to gain a two-game cushion as the No. 2 seed. 

Augsburg (15-6, 11-5 MIAC) led by seven (20-13) halfway through the first half, but SJU made 11 of its final 16 shot attempts, including 8-for-9 from inside the arc, to take an eight-point lead (40-32) into the break. The Auggies, meanwhile, made only three of their final 13 shots. The Johnnies shot 59.3 percent (16-for-27) in the first half, despite a 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) showing from three-point range.

The Auggies opened the second half with a 7-0 run, but SJU responded with a 7-0 run of its own, thanks to five points from senior guard David Stokman (Maple Lake, Minn.). Stokman led four Johnnies in double figures with 24 points, his sixth 20-point game of the season and 23rd of his career. 



Sophomore post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) followed with 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half.

Freshman guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) stepped up off the bench and loaded the stat sheet with 16 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. 

Junior post Lucas Walford (Elko, Minn./New Prague) collected his seventh double-double of the season, and 11th of his career, with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Booker Coplin, the MIAC's leading scorer (25.6 ppg.) and rebounder (9.3 rpg.), led all scorers with 37 points on 9-for-21 shooting. He grabbed six rebounds and went 14-for-15 from the free-throw line. The visitors salvaged 37.7-percent shooting (20-for-53) with a 22-for-24 performance at the charity stripe. Total fouls were 18-9 in favor of SJU with six minutes remaining in the game.

NCAA Division III's top shooting team (.548), SJU finished at 54.4 percent (31-for-57) for the game, including 28.6 percent (6-for-21) from downtown. The Johnnies entered the game fifth in Division III from behind the arc (.414).

SJU is now 8-2 against AUG under the direction of head coach Pat McKenzie '04 and has won 11 of the last 13 meetings overall.

The Johnnies travel to Concordia (7-14, 6-10 MIAC) for a 7:45 p.m. game, following Saint Benedict's contest with the Cobbers, on Wednesday, Feb. 6, in Moorhead.