By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - A lot of talented players have come through the Saint John's University basketball program in the decades since Bill Sexton '55 and Dick Matchinsky '57 last took off their Johnnie uniforms – which makes the fact that each still ranks among the top scorers in program history that much more impressive.

Sexton – who was inducted into the SJU J-Club Hall of Honor in 2019 – finished his career with 1,480 points. That stood as a school record until two years later when Matchinsky surpassed it in a home victory over Saint Mary's on Feb. 12, 1957.

Matchinsky, a Melrose (Minn.) High School graduate, finished his career with 1,581 points. That record was eventually broken by Frank Wachlarowicz '79, whose 2,357 career points still stands at the top of the list today.

Matchinsky, who died in March 2021, remains in second place. Sexton, whose 49 points in a win over Macalester in 1954 is still a single-game SJU record, ranks fifth.

The two were teammates in 1953-54 and 1954-55. The duo combined for 910 points during the 1954-55 season (Sexton 511, Matchinsky 399), making them the highest-scoring pair of teammates at any college level in the state that year.

"He was a very good player," Sexton recalls. "He should be in the Hall of Honor as well. He was a great outside shooter who came in and started right away as a freshman. 

"I got to play with him for two years and I thought he was just excellent."

Though the Johnnies teams of the 1950s did not achieve the same level of success that SJU squads in subsequent decades would, they still boasted plenty of talent.

Forward Norb Kowalkowski '59, who died in 2018, finished his career with 1,406 points – eighth on the school's all-time list. Jake Lynch '57 – a St. Cloud Cathedral High School graduate who died last December – served as a co-captain with Matchinsky during their senior season in 1956-57 and ranked in the top 15 nationally in NAIA in field goal shooting (58 percent).

On that 1956-57 team, which finished 8-8 in MIAC play, Matchinsky averaged 19.9 points per game, Kowalkowski averaged 14.8 and Lynch averaged 13.3. 

Matchinsky, who started all but two games over the course of his four seasons in Collegeville, finished second in that year's conference scoring race and graduated with a then school-record career average of 16.8 points per game.

"We had some really good players in the program over those years," said Sexton, who became the first SJU player to earn All-America honors when he was named to the NAIA third team in 1953-54. "And just exceptional outside shooters. If we had the 3-point line back then, I think we would have been a lot more successful as a team. 

"We always trended small, but we had guys who could shoot."

30 years ago (1992) – SJU senior John Deters '92 won both the 1 and 3-meter diving competition at the MIAC Championships to again advance to nationals. Deters, who won a national title in the 1-meter event as a junior, went on to earn All-American honors in both events at the national meet.

40 years ago (1982) – Sophomore Jim Goodman was the lone Johnnie wrestler to earn a conference title at the MIAC championships, winning the title match at 176 pounds by a score of 19-4.

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