Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's basketball avenged an early-season loss to St. Olaf with a nail-biting 69-66 victory on Saturday, Jan. 28, in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies (12-6, 9-4 MIAC) led by as much as eight points in the game (8:39 mark of the first half) and by five (67-62) with 2:10 remaining, but needed a clutch performance from junior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) to clinch the win.

The Oles (12-7, 8-6 MIAC) made back-to-back buckets to cut their deficit to one (67-66) with 57 seconds left and had the opportunity to tie or gain the lead, but Brendan Kauls missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the free-throw line with 40 ticks on the clock. Thissen grabbed the defensive rebound and drained a step-back jumper in the paint with 13 seconds left. An off-balance three-point shot from Kobe Kirk hit the front rim as time expired.

Thissen finished with a season-high 27 points, on 11 of 16 shooting, for his fifth 20-point game of the season and 12th of his career. He also grabbed six rebounds in 36 minutes of play. 



Sophomore guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) followed with a career-high 14 points, while adding four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Senior post Carson Schoeller (Prior Lake, Minn.) totaled 12 points and seven boards, while senior post Mitchell Plombon (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) collected 10 points and four rebounds. SJU's starters combined to shoot 56.5 percent (26-for-46) from the field.

Connor Martin led STO, which shot 57.7 percent (15-for-26) in the second half to finish at an even 50 percent (26-for-52) for the game, with 19 points. Michael Meriggioli nearly doubled his season average (9.5 ppg.) with 18 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double.

With the win, SJU improved to 73-36 against St. Olaf since the 1964-65 season, including a 46-9 record in Collegeville. The Johnnies have now won each of the last eight meetings in Sexton Arena and 13 of the last 17 overall.

The Johnnies travel to face Concordia for a 5:15 p.m. tip-off on Monday, Jan. 30, in Moorhead.