Box Score
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Saint John's basketball ended Trinity's Leslie Robinson Classic with an 81-71 loss to Hardin-Simmons (Texas) on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 21.
The Johnnies (4-7, 1-2 MIAC) finished 6-for-27 (22.2 percent) from three-point range and 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) from the free-throw line, including an 8-for-17 showing from the charity stripe in the second half.
Back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard
Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) cut the deficit to five (72-67) with 2:28 to play, but HSU answered with two-straight buckets and led by eight or more the rest of the way.
Johnson led all scorers with a career-high 25 points. He added five rebounds and three assists.
Freshman guard
Henry Tschetter (Stewartville, Minn.) and sophomore guard
Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.) added 14 points and seven rebounds each. Tschetter also collected a career-high four steals.
SJU led by as much as five (18-13) with 12:26 left in the first half, but an 11-0 run put the Cowboys (8-6 overall) in command as the Johnnies went scoreless for 4:46 of play.
An 8-0 run gave HSU its largest lead of the game (48-35) 3:10 into the second half, but SJU answered with a 13-0 run over the next 3:42 to tie it at 48-48. Both teams exchanged baskets, but the Cowboys went on a 10-2 run. Johnson scored five-straight points and junior post
Vincent Hillesheim (Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins) went 1-for-2 at the line to make it a two-point game (58-56) with 8:06 remaining. HSU, however, made each of its next four shots and went 3-for-3 at the free-throw line to regain a double-digit lead.
The Cowboys finished at 55.6 percent (30-for-54) from the field – 65 percent (26-for-40) from inside the arc – and 81 percent (17-for-21) from the free-throw line. SJU held a 34-33 edge in rebounds (15-8 on the offensive glass), but HSU scored 18 points off 13 turnovers.
A pair of forwards, (6-foot-8) Chris Bryant and (6-foot-6) Asher Fleming, led Hardin-Simmons with 20 points apiece. Bryant missed two shots (7-for-9) and added eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
The Johnnies return to the court, and conference play, with a 3 p.m. game at Augsburg (9-2, 3-0 MIAC) on Saturday, Jan. 3, in Minneapolis.
