Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Minn. - Saint John's basketball saw its seven-game win streak end with a 77-70 loss at St. Olaf on Wednesday, Feb. 9, in Northfield.

The teams' three-point shooting percentages flipped, which unfortunately for SJU (18-4, 15-2 MIAC), fell into St. Olaf's favor.

The Johnnies entered the game third in NCAA Division III in three-point percentage (.400), but finished 5-for-20 (25 percent). The Oles (13-9, 9-8 MIAC), meanwhile, were the second-worst three-point shooting team in the MIAC (29.9 percent) and went 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from behind the arc.

SJU trailed by as much as 17, but brought the deficit to four (71-67) with 37.4 seconds remaining. The Oles, however, went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line the rest of the way and finished at 17-for-20 (85 percent) for the game. STO entered the night shooting 70 percent from the charity stripe in its previous 21 games.

Freshman guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, including 20 in the second half. He went 5-for-11 from behind the arc to break SJU's single-season record for made three-pointers by a freshman - 53 set by Chris Schwartz '11 in 2007-08 - and now has 58 on the year.

SJU trailed 38-26 at halftime, two nights after allowing a total of 35 points to Hamline. The visitors shot 40.7 percent (11-for-27) and 1-for-7 from three-point in the first half, to 50 percent (14-for-28) and 5-for-7 from three-point for the Oles.

Senior post Zach Hanson (New Prague, Minn.) was the other Johnnie in double figures with 14 points, which enabled him to pass Andy Burns '12 (1,068), Larry Bassett '92 (1,072) and Tim Muller '71 (1,079) into a tie with Eric Kohorst '93 for 28th in SJU history (1,080).

The Johnnies entered the game seventh nationally in overall shooting percentage (.500) and finished at 44.3 percent (27-for-61) on the night with 11 missed layups/shots in the paint. SJU was out-rebounded by a 39-28 margin, including 13-11 on the offensive glass, and was out-scored 21-9 in second-chance points.

Dominic Bledsoe and Connor Martin led STO with 18 points apiece. Bledsoe started the night shooting 29.9 percent (26-for-87) from three-point range but went 4-for-6 from long range. A 17.9-percent shooter from three-point land (7-for-39), Michael Meriggioli chipped in 11 points on a 3-for-4 showing from behind the arc.

The Johnnies travel to face Augsburg (15-4, 12-2 MIAC) for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Feb. 12, in Minneapolis.