Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's basketball ended its regular-season schedule with a 79-74 home win over Bethel on Wednesday, Feb. 14, in Sexton Arena.

The Johnnies (20-5, 18-2 MIAC) finished at 56.4 percent (31-for-55) from the field for the game but found themselves down three (58-55) with 9:56 remaining. SJU responded, however, with an 11-0 run over the next 4:08 and eventually tied its largest lead of the game – nine – with 4:44 remaining. 

Payton Thomsen drained three-pointers on three-straight possessions for Bethel (12-12, 9-10 MIAC) and a pair of free throws from Caden Boettcher cut the Johnnies' lead to three (75-72) with 32 seconds left, but junior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) went to the free-throw line with a one-and-one opportunity and made both. Sophomore post Brady Spaulding (Annandale, Minn.) recorded his third steal of the game on the ensuing BU possession and senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) sealed the win with two more free throws on the other end with 17 seconds on the clock.

Vaughn led SJU with 24 points, his third 20-point game of the season and eighth of his career, on 7-for-9 shooting. He went 3-for-4 from behind the three-point arc and a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Vaughn needs 26 points to become the 41st Johnnie in program history to reach 1,000 for a career.

Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) fell one rebound shy of a double-double with 19 points and nine boards. He also collected four assists. Thissen was the other Johnnie in double digits with 14 points.



Thomsen led all scorers with a game-high 28 points, 20 of which came in the second half. He finished 6-for-9 from long range and scored 13 of BU's final 16 points. Zach Doely, like Berg, also fell one rebound from a double-double with 21 points and nine boards.

BU edged SJU on the glass, 29-27, but the Johnnies scored 16 points off 14 turnovers.

The win gave SJU its 15th 20-win season in program history and fifth in eight seasons (not including the 2020-21 COVID season) under the direction of head coach Pat McKenzie '04. Two of the other three seasons ended with 19 wins (2015-16 and 2016-17) and the third was last year's 17-10 record.

The top-seeded Johnnies await their postseason opponent – to be determined – in the MIAC semifinals at 7 p.m. next Thursday, Feb. 22, in Collegeville.