Box Score

MOORHEAD, Minn. – Saint John's basketball handed Concordia its first loss of the season – 77-70 – on Wednesday, Dec. 6, in Moorhead.

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) became the 40th Johnnie in program history to score 1,000 career points with a game-high 27, including 19 in the second half, in the victory. He needed 21 points and reached the milestone with a pair of free throws to give SJU (6-2, 5-0 MIAC) a 59-52 lead with 9:44 to play. Thissen entered tonight's game 0-for-7 from three-point range this season and finished with a career-high four (4-for-4), while adding five rebounds and three assists with a perfect 7-for-7 showing from the charity stripe. The 20-point game was Thissen's first of the season and 18th of his career.

Concordia (7-1, 3-1 MIAC) used a 6-0 run to tie the game at 65-65 with 3:33 remaining, but junior wing Griffin Rushin (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) drained a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and, after the Cobbers cut it to one with 2:09 left, junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) hit a trey to make it 71-67.

CC's Jacob Cook made one of his two free-throw attempts before Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) hammered home a dunk with 1:13 on the clock. Both teams exchanged misses, two for SJU, and Cook cut it to 73-70 on a basket with 15 seconds left. Vaughn sealed the win when he made a pair of free throws on the next possession and two more, after Cook committed a turnover, with five seconds remaining.

Vaughn finished with 15 points and a trio of three-pointers (3-for-8), which broke his tie with Alex Schmitt '16 and lifted him into sole possession of ninth in program history with 153 in his career. He is now seven away from Andy Burns '12 in eighth (160).

Berg and Rushin followed with eight points apiece. Berg went 4-for-6 from the floor and Rushin added a career-high 10 rebounds.

The teams entered halftime deadlocked at 33-33 thanks to a half-court heave from Matt Johnson at the horn. He entered the game averaging a team-best 17.4 points per game but was held to just those three Wednesday night.

Jackson Loge led CC with 20 points, while Cook totaled 17 points and nine rebounds.

The Johnnies return home to host Macalester (5-4, 2-3 MIAC) at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, in Sexton Arena.