Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's basketball returned to the win column with an 80-53 home victory over Saint Mary's on Wednesday, Jan. 19, in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies (12-3, 9-1 MIAC) led by 18 (41-23) early in the second half, but made only one of its next 10 shot attempts (and committed two turnovers) as Saint Mary's (5-9, 3-7 MIAC) cut its deficit to three (45-42) with 12:13 remaining. 

SJU, however, answered with a 17-0 run over the next six minutes to put the game away. The Johnnies made 13 of their final 18 shots, including 8-for-10 from behind the arc.

Junior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) led the Johnnies with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Sophomore guard Jared Rainey (Maple Grove, Minn.) returned after missing the last two games due to injury and scored 15 points off the bench, all in the second half, on a 5-for-6 performance from three-point range.



Senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) became the 39th Johnnie in program history to reach 1,000 career points on a patented hook shot with 11:01 left in the first half. He finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes.

The home team doubled up SMU in shooting percentage, 48 percent (12-for-25) to 24.1 percent (7-for-29), for a 37-21 halftime lead. The Johnnies finished at 50.9 percent (28-for-55) and made a season-high 14 three-pointers (46.7 percent, 14-for-30) thanks to a hot second half. The 14 treys were the team's most in four years (17 vs. Bethany Lutheran on March 2, 2018, in Collegeville).

Raheem Anthony led all scorers with 19 points, 14 of which came in the second half, for the Cardinals.

SJU is now 94-21 against Saint Mary's since the 1964-65 season, including a 57-1 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last 29 meetings overall and 54 straight at home (50-0 in the Warner Palaestra). 

The Johnnies wrap up the three-game homestand with a 3 p.m. tip-off against St. Scholastica on Saturday, Jan. 22, in Collegeville.