Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 9 Saint John's basketball outlasted Concordia-Moorhead for an 80-73 overtime win – the Johnnies' 15th-straight victory – on Saturday, Feb. 8, in Sexton Arena.

Tied at 69-69, the Johnnies (19-2, 12-0 MIAC) out-scored the Cobbers 11-4 in overtime, including a 7-0 margin at the free-throw line. SJU entered the game as the NCAA Division III at the charity stripe (.796) and finished at 72.4 percent (21-for-29) Saturday. CC (9-12, 5-7 MIAC) went 2-for-7 from the field in the extra session, including 0-for-4 from three-point range, after ending regulation at 50 percent (8-for-16) from long range.

A pair of free throws from senior guard Kooper Vaughn (St. Charles, Minn.) tied the game at 69-69 with 32 seconds remaining in the second half. With a two-second differential between the game and shot clocks, CC's Jacob Cook drove to the basket seeking the game-winning points, but Vaughn drew the offensive foul with six ticks on the clock. Senior wing Ryan Thissen (Rosemount, Minn./Eastview) missed a jumper in the closing seconds and senior wing Griffin Rushin's (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) put-back attempt rolled around the rim and out as the horn sounded.

SJU led by as much as eight (54-46) with 10:57 left thanks to a 14-3 run. The Cobbers, however, responded with a 17-9 run over the next 7:49.



Concordia shot an even 60 percent (15-for-25) from the floor, including 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) from behind the arc, in the first half but the game was tied at 37-37 thanks to SJU's 8-0 advantage in second-chance points.

Thissen led SJU with 17 points and seven rebounds in 40:11 played. He is now one point from Troy Bigalke '01 in third place (1,568) on SJU's all-time scoring list with 1,567 career points.

Senior guard Blake Berg (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) was next with 13 points and five rebounds in just 20:26 of action due to foul trouble. He fouled out with 1:47 left in the second half.

Junior guard Kyle Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) was the third Johnnie in double digits with 12 points off the bench. His back-to-back three-pointers sparked the Johnnies' 14-1 run in the second half.

Jacob Cook led all scorers with 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a game-high 42:09 of play for CC. Rowan Nelson followed with 23 points. The duo combined to shoot 21-for-32 (.656), while the rest of the team combined for a 28-percent showing (7-for-25). Seven different Cobbers made a three-pointer.

The Johnnies host Macalester (7-14, 4-8 MIAC) for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Collegeville.