Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's basketball overcame a five-point deficit by shooting 71.1 percent (27-for-38) from the field in the second half in a 95-67 non-conference win over Minnesota-Morris on Monday night, Jan. 12, in Sexton Arena.

A balanced offense clicked for the Johnnies (8-7, 4-2 MIAC) after halftime, scoring 21 points off turnovers and seven off second-chance points. Four different Johnnies did not miss a shot in the second half and two finished with double-doubles for the first time in the same game since November 2022.

UMM's largest lead of the second half was seven (44-37) 2:37 into the frame, but SJU went on a 10-2 run – capped by a traditional three-point play from junior post Vincent Hillesheim (Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins) – to gain its first lead of the game at the 14:59 mark. While the Cougars (6-8, 1-0 UMAC) scored on their next two possessions to tie the game at 50-50, a 15-3 Johnnie run capped by freshman guard Noah George's (Roseville, Minn./Roseville Area) third-straight three-pointer gave SJU a 65-53 lead at the 10-minute mark.

Saint John's scored 24 of the game's final 31 points from eight different players, shooting 11-for-16 with the five misses coming from beyond the arc. The Johnnies forced eight Morris turnovers in that span and kept the Cougars empty from three (0-for-5), after they started the game 2-for-2 from three-point range and went 1-for-15 from long range the rest of the way.

Junior wing Jamison Lien (Prior Lake, Minn.) led the Johnnies with 16 points on 8-for-10 shooting in 16 minutes off the bench. 

Junior guard Baiden Bean (Farmington, Minn.) made his sixth start of the season and fell two rebounds shy of a triple-double. He registered career highs in points (14), assists (12) and rebounds (8) to go with three steals and no turnovers in 34:17 played. Bean entered Monday's game 11th in NCAA Division III with a +3.71 assist/turnover ratio (is now +4.57 after tonight's game, which is good for second nationally).



The double-double was the first of points and assists by a Johnnie since All-American Aaron Burtzel's '11 second triple-double of the season – 16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists – on Feb. 3, 2010, vs. St. Olaf.

Freshman guard Peyton Podany (Anoka, Minn.) posted his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while also adding five rebounds. Ten Johnnies scored five points or more and the home team shot 59.1 percent (39-for-66) from the field in the victory.

Carvin Fish led all scorers with 21 points for the Cougars, which finished at 49.1 percent (26-for-53) from the floor.

The Johnnies travel to face Carleton (8-7, 4-2 MIAC) for a 3 p.m. tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the West Gymnasium in Northfield.