Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Saint John's basketball won its second consecutive MIAC regular-season championship with a 68-65 victory at Augsburg on Saturday, Feb. 12, in Minneapolis.

Augsburg (15-5, 12-3 MIAC) led by nine (51-42) with 9:28 remaining, but SJU (19-4, 16-2 MIAC) answered with an 11-0 run to gain its first lead since 4:32 into the game. The Auggies, however, responded with a 12-6 scoring margin for a 63-59 lead with 3:37 left. That is, until freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) scored the game's next five points to swing the lead back to SJU, 64-63, with 1:12 remaining.

Joe Palmer made it 65-64 for Augsburg with a pair of free throws, following three missed shots (including the front end of a one-and-one) and three offensive rebounds.

On the ensuing possession, sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) grabbed the offensive board of his own miss and was fouled, and registered the game-winning points with two free throws with 10.7 seconds left.

Palmer's fadeaway attempt near the foul line hit the iron and the Auggies were called for a foul with 0.5 left. Vaughn sealed the victory with two more free throws to finish with 12 points, nine of which came in the second half (seven in the final 2:34).



The regular-season title is SJU's 10th in program history. The MIAC did not award a regular-season championship in 2020-21. In addition to the title, the Johnnies clinched the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage in the MIAC's "all-comers" tournament that begins with the Nos. 6-11 seeds playing next Saturday, Feb. 19.

Senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) led five Johnnies in double figures with 16 points, which enabled him to break his tie with Eric Kohorst '93 and pass Luke Witt '02 into 27th in school history with 1,096 career points.

SJU shot 64 percent (16-for-25) in the second half to finish at 51 percent (26-for-51) overall. A sluggish first half (38.5 percent) that included five missed layups gave the Auggies a 33-24 halftime lead.

Thissen and junior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) finished with 11 points apiece, while senior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Palmer led all scorers with 25 points, on 8-for-22 shooting. Augsburg's last field goal was a three-pointer from Rayquan Moore, which gave the home team a four-point lead (61-57), with 4:17 left.

Rebounds were even at 28-28, though the Auggies collected an 11-8 edge on the offensive glass and recorded scoring advantages off turnovers (16-14) and in second-chance points (15-11).

The Johnnies play host to Gustavus Adolphus for the regular-season finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 16, in Sexton Arena.