Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 3 Saint John's basketball rolled to a 71-43 win over St. Olaf in the MIAC Playoff semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 27 in Collegeville.
The Johnnies (24-2, 19-1 MIAC) host No. 2 St. Thomas (24-2, 19-1 MIAC), which defeated Saint Mary's 79-66 in Thursday's other semifinal, for the MIAC Playoff championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, in Sexton Arena.
Down by one (17-16) with nine minutes to play in the first half, SJU opened a double-digit lead (34-21) with an 18-4 run into the break.
The Johnnies made all 10 of their shots from inside the arc in the second half, 75 percent (18-for-24) for the game, and broke the game wide open with a 19-2 run to build a 31-point lead (65-34) with 4:33 to play.
Senior wing
Jubie Alade (Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) led all scorers with 17 points, on 7-for-9 shooting, with four rebounds and three steals. The 17 points enabled him to break his tie with Craig Muyres '64 and climb past former teammate Tyler Weiss '18 into ninth on SJU's all-time scoring list. Former NFL referee Bernie Kukar '62 is eighth (1,389).
SJU out-rebounded St. Olaf (13-14, 9-11 MIAC) 36-25 and scored 21 points off 10 turnovers, including 14 points off seven miscues in the first half.
Junior post
Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) followed Alade with 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Senior guard
Sean Ryan (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) was the third Johnnies in double figures with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench.
The Johnnies finished at 53.2 percent (25-for-47) for the game and just 30.4 percent (7-for-23) from three-point range. SJU was 14 of 15 from the free-throw line.
Each team was without one of its leaders, as senior post
Lucas Walford (Elko, Minn./New Prague) did not play due to illness. Nate Albers, the Oles' leading scorer (14.8 ppg.) and rebounder (6.5 rpg.), did not play due to injury.
Noah Beck led STO with 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting. The Oles recorded season lows for points and shooting percentage (.309, 17-for-55) in the loss.
SJU is now 70-34 against St. Olaf since the 1964-65 season, including a 44-9 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have won each of the last six meetings in Sexton Arena and 10 of the last 12 overall.
