Saint John's ends its non-conference schedule by hosting Minnesota-Morris at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 12, in Sexton Arena. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Despite four different players in foul trouble and the most free-throws awarded to an opponent in two decades, Saint John's (7-7, 4-2 MIAC) received 52 points off the bench and held Hamline at bay for a 75-73 win on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 10) in Collegeville.

Hamline cut a 13-point SJU lead down to two in the final minute of play after the Johnnies went 6:12 between made field goals, but a Liam Farniok (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest) dagger from long range – his first points of the game – extended the differential to five (72-67) with 31 seconds remaining. Farniok made both of his free throws during the next offensive possession to maintain SJU's victorious margin with 20 ticks left.

Sophomore guard Justin Johnson (Prior Lake, Minn./DeLaSalle) led all scorers with a career-high 23 points – including a 5-for-6 showing from beyond the arc – in the absence of the Johnnies' leading scorer, his older brother Kyle, due to injury. 

Saint John's and Hamline exchanged the lead five times with eight tied scores in the first half, with neither team leading by more than five. Johnson scored the Johnnies' final 13 points of the first half to put SJU ahead of Hamline for good. He missed just one shot all game (8-for-9 overall, 5-for-6 from three-point) to go along with two rebounds, two fouls drawn and an assist. 

The Pipers occupied the free-throw line after the break, getting six calls in their favor to the Johnnies' two in the first 4:53 of the second half. HU entered the bonus 15 seconds later while the home maintained its six-point lead. 

That lead turned into a 22-12 stretch in favor of the Johnnies, with six more of the Pipers' points coming from the charity stripe. SJU earned its largest advantage – 13 (66-53) – after junior wing Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.) poured in seven points with four rebounds in a six-minute span.

Junior post Vincent Hillesheim (Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins) capped the run with a poster dunk before Hamline fought back into the game with a 14-3 run in which SJU shot 1-for-7 and 0-for-4 from three-point range. Farniok's three and two free throws off the inbound foul kept fate in the hands of the Johnnies, who went to junior guard Baiden Bean (Farmington, Minn.) for the final play of the game. Bean crossed and tripped up his opposition on the pass from freshman guard Peyton Podany (Anoka, Minn.) to run the clock out. 

Lien finished with 13 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench, while Bean added 11 points, four assists, three steals, two rebounds and a block.

Podany scored 11 with four boards, and Hillesheim posted four points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds.

Brendan Ebel led HU with 22 points, thanks to a 13-for-18 showing at the free-throw line, and collected eight rebounds, while the Pipers' Dane DeDominces posted a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards.

The Pipers shot 40.4 percent (21-for-52) from the field and led 14-0 in fast-break points and 13-4 in points off turnovers. They missed 15 of their 43 free throws, including nine in the second half. 

FREE THROWS APLENTY: Hamline's 43 free-throw attempts were the most by an SJU opponent since Gustavus Adolphus went 35-for-47 (74.5 percent) from the charity stripe on Feb. 19, 2005 in St. Peter.

150 MIAC WINS: Saturday's win was head coach Pat McKenzie's '04 150th in the MIAC (150-36 record in conference play, 206-64 overall). He eclipsed the 200-win mark in the second game of the season against Central (74-71 on Nov. 14).

STAT COMPARISONS
Scoring Offense
-UMM, 77.5 ppg.
-SJU, 77.1 ppg.

Scoring Defense
-UMM, 74.7 ppg.
-SJU, 76.7 ppg.

Shooting Percentage
-SJU, .457
-UMM, .438

Three-Point Percentage
-UMM, .341
-SJU, .317

Free-Throw Percentage
-UMM, .709
-SJU, .677

Rebounding
-UMM, 41.8 rpg.
-SJU, 38.6 rpg.

A LOOK AT THE COUGARS: Minnesota-Morris (6-7, 1-0 UMAC) saw its win streak end at three games with a 73-54 loss at No. 19 Gustavus Adolphus yesterday (Jan. 10) in St. Peter. The Cougars made only 30.2 percent (16-for-53) of their shots, including 24 percent (6-for-25) in the first half as GAC built a 14-point (36-22) lead at the break. Junior (6-foot-3) guard Kaden Pieper led UMM with 19 points on 5 of 13 shooting and three steals, while junior (6-foot-7) forward Matt Thompson posted a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore (6-foot-7) forward Carvin Fish went 2-for-11 from the field for six points and grabbed 12 boards. Fish (17.8 ppg.), Pieper (17.7 ppg.) and Thompson (16.8 ppg.) are the lone Cougars who average more than six points per game this season.

LAST SEASON: Then-No. 21 SJU doubled up Minnesota-Morris on the scoreboard by a 48-24 margin in the second half en route to an 87-60 win last Dec. 9 (2024) in Morris.

The Johnnies opened the second half with a 22-6 run thanks to a 9-for-13 shooting performance that featured a 4-for-7 output from three-point range. SJU made 51.4 percent (18-for-35) of its shots in the second half with a 7-for-15 showing (46.7 percent) from behind the arc to finish at 45.5 percent (30-for-66) for the game.

Wing Ryan Thissen '24 led all scorers with 22 points – his third-consecutive 20-point game – on an 8-for-13 night from the floor and collected seven rebounds with three steals in 25 minutes of play. 

Guard Kooper Vaughn '25 was the other Johnnie in double figures with 14 points on a 4-for-8 performance from three-point land. Guards Blake Berg '24 and Zach Longueville '25 added nine points apiece. Longueville dished out six assists and went 3-for-3 from three-point, while Berg added four assists. The Johnnies recorded 20 assists on the 30 made field goals and scored 14 points off 13 Minnesota-Morris turnovers.

The visitors started the game 5-for-10 from three-point and built a 12-point lead (29-17) with 9:40 left in the first half, but went 8:31 between made field goals – going 0-for-11 (0-for-7 from three-point) – as the Cougars went on a 14-2 run to cut their deficit to just one (32-31). The Johnnies' lone made field goal was a traditional three-point play from Thissen with 1:08 left as SJU went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe during that span for a 39-36 halftime lead.

Pal Dak led UMM, which shot 33.3 percent (9-for-27) overall and 1-for-10 from three-point in the second half, with 16 points.

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 25-10 all-time against Morris, including a 9-4 record in Collegeville. SJU has won each of the last seven meetings overall and 13 of the last 14.