COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's basketball team got out to a 12-point lead midway through the before half before No. 2 Saint John's University clamped down defensively to claim a 68-53 victory on Wednesday evening at Sexton Arena.
St. Olaf (9-11, 6-9 MIAC) used an 11-2 run to build a 21-9 lead 11 minutes in, but Saint John's (20-1, 16-0 MIAC) scored the final 10 points of the half to take a two-point halftime lead and led the rest of the way. The win was the 20th in a row for the Johnnies after a season-opening loss to then-No. 8 Nebraska Wesleyan.
The Oles were within three, 37-34, with 15:23 remaining in the second half before the Johnnies held St. Olaf to six points over the next 8:54 to stretch their lead to 13, 53-40, with 6:26 to go. Saint John's shot 14-for-23 (60.9 percent) from the field in the second half.
St. Olaf had four scorers in double figures, led by 13 points apiece from seniors
Noah Beck and
Troy Diggins Jr. Senior
Nate Albers added 11 points and first year
Jake Weber provided 10 off the bench on 4-for-6 shooting for the Oles, who committed just five turnovers in the game and outscored the Johnnies by a 19-3 margin off turnovers.
Lucas Walford paced Saint John's with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Zach Hanson had 18 points and nine boards. The duo combined to shoot 15-for-21 (71.4 percent) from the field for the Johnnies, while Jubie Alade added 14 points.
Beck drilled three-pointers on the first two possessions of the game for St. Olaf and had 11 of his 13 points in the opening half. Leading 10-7, Albers connected on two three-pointers as part of an 11-2 run that gave the Oles their largest lead of the game at 21-9.
Saint John's quickly responded by scoring seven-straight points over the next 1:19 to close the gap to five. St. Olaf pushed its lead back to eight, 28-20, with 3:20 left in the half before the Johnnies scored the final 10 points of the half to go into the locker room up two, 30-28.
Diggins Jr. scored six-straight St. Olaf points early in the second half to keep the Oles down just three, 37-34, with 15:23 on the clock. Saint John's connected on four three-pointers on an extended 16-6 run over the next 8:54 to extend its lead to 53-40 with 6:27 left and led by at least a dozen the rest of the way.
St. Olaf returns home to take on Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. The Oles sit one game behind Saint Mary's for the final MIAC Playoff spot with five games remaining.
