Box Score

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. - The sudden change of venue failed to rattle the top-seeded Saint John's basketball team, which fed off an electric crowd en route to a 76-57 win over fifth-seeded St. Olaf on Friday, Feb. 25, at Saint Benedict's Claire Lynch Hall in St. Joseph.

The game was moved six hours prior to the 7 p.m. tip-off due to a broken water main and required power outage (for the repair) near the Warner Palaestra in Collegeville.

The Johnnies (22-4, 17-2 MIAC) host sixth-seeded Macalester (15-12, 9-10 MIAC) for the MIAC Playoff championship game, and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, in Sexton Arena.

SJU shot 54.7 percent (29-for-53) for the game and out-scored the Oles (16-11, 11-9 MIAC) by a 16-0 margin off turnovers.



St. Olaf built its largest lead of the game, seven (12-5), early and led 26-22 with 6:45 left in the first half. That is, until SJU scored 12 of the half's final 16 points. Freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) buried a three-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Johnnies a 34-30 halftime lead.

Vaughn dropped in another trey on the opening possession of the second half, but STO chipped the deficit to three (37-34) with four straight points. SJU responded with a 6-0 run and started an 8-0 run not long after to make it 54-38 with 10:18 remaining. Another 6-0 run gave SJU a 19-point lead (60-41) with 6:56 left.

Despite a subpar showing at the free-throw line (57.1 percent, 12-for-21), SJU went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe and added two buckets over a three-minute span to thwart STO's hope for a comeback.

All five Johnnie starters finished in double figures for points, led by 16 each from Vaughn, senior guard Colton Codute (Wayzata, Minn./Orono) and senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.). Codute and Vaughn also added three steals apiece.

Hanson just missed a double-double with nine boards, while adding four assists. The 16 points enabled him to break his tie for 23rd on SJU's all-time scoring list and climb past John Eisenschenk '81 (1,129), Josh Cherry '96 (1,131) and Darrick Buettner '91 (1,136) into 20th (1,137).

Sophomore wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) matched Hanson's four assists and scored 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while junior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) added 10 points and two blocked shots.

Connor Martin led all scorers with 19 points for STO, which finished at 43.1 percent (22-for-51) from the floor and recorded a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points.