Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Saint John's basketball suffered its first conference loss of the season in the closing seconds, 74-73, at Hamline on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Hutton Arena.

Ahead by one (73-72) with 8.9 seconds remaining, SJU senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) was at the free-throw line in a one-and-one situation. The 81.6-percent (40-for-49) shooter at the charity stripe, however, missed the free throw - the Johnnies' first of the day (12-for-13) - and the Pipers (11-6, 9-3 MIAC) grabbed the defensive rebound. HU's Bradley Cimperman then drew a foul against Berg, his fifth of the game, with two seconds left. Cimperman made both free throws – due to the double-bonus – for the go-ahead points and SJU's last-chance heave from the opposite baseline was deflected in the air near mid-court and the clock ran out.

A deep three-pointer from junior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) gave the Johnnies (13-4, 11-1 MIAC) a two-point lead (71-69) with 2:41 left. HU's Austin Holt made one of his two free-throw attempts on the ensuing possession and both teams were scoreless for over a minute before Berg made a shot in the paint to increase the visitors' lead to 73-70 at the 1:02 mark. Cimperman cut the Pipers' deficit to one with a basket on the next possession and SJU escaped a shot-clock violation when HU was whistled for a defensive foul with 10 seconds remaining (three seconds left on the shot clock). The foul, however, was just the Pipers' sixth of the half (to SJU's 10). Another whistle on the in-bounds pass sent Berg to the line.

SJU started the game with a 12-2 run, but HU answered with an 11-2 run of its own and the teams exchanged the lead seven times in the first half. The Pipers took a 41-37 lead into halftime thanks to a 59.3-percent (16-for-27) showing from the field – to the Johnnies' 48 percent (12-for-25) – and a 24-10 scoring advantage in the paint.

Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) led four Johnnies in double figures with 19 points on just 7-for-21 shooting. The total enabled him to pass Josh Cherry '96 (1,131) and Darrick Buettner '91 (1,136) into 21st on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,149 career points. Aaron Burtzel '11 is 20th at 1,153.

Berg followed with 15 points and junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) totaled 11. Senior post Connor Schwob (Waconia, Minn.) filled the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Longueville added eight points, six boards and four assists.

Holt scored a game-high 24 points and completed the double-double with 13 rebounds. He more than doubled his season average of 23.3 percent (7-for-30) from behind the arc by going 2-for-4 on the afternoon.

HU edged SJU on the glass, 26-25, though the Johnnies scored 17 points off 12 turnovers. SJU's 13 free-throw attempts were seven below its season average and the loss was the Johnnies' first in Hutton Arena in nine years (Feb. 9, 2015).

The Johnnies play host to Carleton (10-6, 7-4 MIAC) for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, Jan. 24, in Sexton Arena.