Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 4 Saint John's basketball overcame early three-point woes to pull away in the second half of an 80-62 win over Saint Mary's on Wednesday, Jan. 15, in Collegeville.
SJU (13-1, 9-0 MIAC), which entered the game at 38.9 percent from behind the arc, made only two of its first 12 long-range attempts before sophomore guard
Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) drained a pair in the final 1:14 of the first half as the Johnnies took a 36-25 lead into the break. Codute started the game 0-for-4 from three-point range and made his final six, which tied a career high, to finish with 18 points. He also collected a career-high seven assists.
The Johnnies started the second half with an 8-0 run, but SMU (7-7, 4-5 MIAC) chipped away with a 15-5 stretch of its own to cut the deficit to nine (49-40). The home team, however, made six of its next nine shots, including four treys from Codute to gain a 20-point lead (67-47).
Senior wing
Jubie Alade (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) matched Codute's 18 points, while adding six rebounds and three steals. The 18 points vaulted Alade past John Eisenschenk '81, Josh Cherry '96 and Darrick Buettner '91 into 19th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,144.
Junior post
Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.), the reigning MIAC Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week, followed with 14 points and five rebounds. Junior wing
Oakley Baker (Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) was the fourth Johnnie in double figures with 10 points.
Eli Cave led four Cardinals in double digits with 17 points.
SJU shot 57.5 percent (15-for-26) from the field in the second half to finish at 51.9 percent (28-for-54) for the game. The Johnnies out-rebounded the Cardinals 36-28 and went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line.
The Johnnies are now 91-21 against the Cardinals since the 1964-65 season, including a 55-1 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last 26 meetings overall and 52 straight at home (48-0 in the Warner Palaestra).
SJU puts its 13-game win streak on the line against Bethel (10-4, 7-2 MIAC) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, in Sexton Arena.
