Box Score

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Saint John's basketball moved its win streak to eight games with a 91-79 victory over Nazareth (N.Y.) on Tuesday, Dec. 19, on the campus of Division II Eckerd College.

The Johnnies (8-2, 6-0 MIAC) shot 55.2 percent (16-for-29) from the field in the second half – 65 percent (13-for-20) from inside the three-point arc – and held Nazareth (4-4, 2-0 Empire 8) to 38.7 percent (12-for-31) in the game's final 20 minutes.

SJU ended the first half with a 14-2 run (11-0 over the final 2:20) and took a 40-35 lead into intermission. The momentum spilled over to the second half as the Johnnies opened with an 8-2 run. An 11-1 run gave SJU its largest lead of the game – 18 (77-59) with 3:10 to play – but the Golden Flyers scored seven points on one trip down the floor thanks to a two free throws on a shooting foul, two more on a technical foul and a three-pointer on the extra possession. The Johnnies, however, sealed it by going 12-for-15 from the charity stripe the rest of the way and finished at 82.8 percent (24-for-29) for the game.

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) fell a point shy of his career high with 29, including 19 in the first half, for his second 20-point game of the season and 19th of his career. He finished 9-for-12 shooting (10-for-11 from the free-throw line) and grabbed five second-half rebounds. The 29-point performance lifted him past four former Johnnies - Nate Guetter '99 (1,018), Kipp Christianson '97 (1,025), Steve Ward '75 (1,042) and Mark Lenss '78 (1,044) - into 35th on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,046 for his career. Ryan Lieser '08 is next in 34th (1,057).

Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) and junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) followed with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Junior guard Luke Healy (Hudson, Wis.) added 11 points off the bench and senior wing Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) collected a career-high 11 rebounds.

Logan Blankenberg and Jaylen Savage led Nazareth with 15 points apiece. The Golden Flyers posted a 21-6 record last season and entered Tuesday's game third in NCAA Division III in fewest turnovers per game (9.1). SJU forced 10 turnovers, including eight in the first half alone, which turned into 13 points. The Johnnies also out-rebounded Nazareth by a 38-30 margin (7-2 on the offensive glass) and posted a 13-6 advantage in second-chance points.

SJU took the court ranked second in Division III in free-throw percentage (.827), fourth in shooting percentage (.512), sixth in the three-point percentage (.417). The Johnnies finished at 48.4 percent (30-for-62) overall and 31.8 percent (7-for-22) from behind the arc.

The Johnnies end the Florida trip against No. 13 Mount Union (Ohio; 9-1, 3-1 OAC) at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, Dec. 20.