Box Score

ST. PETER, Minn. – No. 6 Saint John's basketball saw its win streak end at 16 games with a 66-62 loss at Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Gustavus (21-3, 15-0 MIAC) out-rebounded SJU (20-3, 13-1 MIAC) 29-25 (8-2 on the offensive glass) and out-scored the Johnnies 38-24 in the paint. The 62 points scored were a season low for SJU and the loss was the Johnnies' first to GAC since Feb. 17, 2016 (63-62 in St. Peter).

A layup from senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) gave SJU its last lead of the game – 57-56 – with 3:21 to play, but SJU missed its last four field-goal attempts and went 5-for-7 at the free-throw line the rest of the way.

Evan Wieker converted on the other end for Gustavus and Spencer Swanson gave the home team a 60-57 lead with a turnaround jumper with 2:20 left. Junior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) cut it to 60-59 with a pair of free throws at the 2:07 mark, which is where the score stood until Jake Schmitt drained a three-pointer to give GAC a 63-59 advantage with 36 seconds remaining.

Senior guard Zach Longueville (Eagan, Minn./St. Croix Lutheran) made both of his free throws with 28 ticks on the clock and Schmitt went 1-for-2 at the line on the other end to give the Gusties a 64-61 lead.

Thissen's driving layup rolled off the rim on the ensuing possession and the tipped rebound found its way to Wieker for an easy, fast-break dunk. Longueville, who missed Wednesday's home game against Macalester due to illness, was fouled on a three-point attempt but made only one of the three free throws for the final margin.

Thissen led SJU with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting, while Johnson totaled 12 points and led the Johnnies with five rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.

Longueville and senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) tallied 11 points and four rebounds apiece.

SJU shot 44 percent (11-for-25) from the field in the first half, but just 2-for-12 (16.7 percent) from behind the arc and led 31-29 at the break thanks to a disparity in made free throws. The Johnnies went a perfect 7-for-7 at the charity stripe to the Gusties' 2-for-8 showing.

Wyatt Olson led all scorers with 20 points and completed the double-double with 11 rebounds for GAC. The Gusties shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) in the second half and finished at 47.2 percent (25-for-53) for the game, but went 13-for-25 (52 percent) at the free-throw line.

The Johnnies return home to host Augsburg (11-12, 7-7 MIAC) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Sexton Arena.