Box Score Box Score

ST CLOUD, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team had its best shooting game of the season and Chris Hamers (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) made a career-high eight, 3 pointers, but it wasn't enough as Saint John's University held on to defeat the Saints 69-67 on Saturday afternoon at the Hoopster Classic, hosted by St. Cloud State University.

The first half went back-and-forth with 12 lead changes and five ties. Brett Tester (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) scored the first points of the game, which was the first lead for the Saints this season. The Johnnies led by as many as four points and the Saints by as many as six. Jonah Dahlman (Braham, Minn./Braham HS) scored the final five points of the half to give St. Scholastica a 38-33 halftime lead.

Chris Hamers (Onamia, Minn./Onamia HS) got his shooting form back, going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc for 15 points. At one point, Hamers made 3-pointers on three straight possessions. Tester added 13 points. The Saints shot 61-percent from the field, while the Johnnies were at 47-percent.

CSS led by as much as eight points with 11:38 remaining in the game, but the Johnnies went on a 10-0 run to take a two-point lead with seven minutes to go.

The margin remained at one possession until Saint John's went up by five with under two minutes to go. Hamers kept the Saints in it by draining a pair of 3-pointers when the margin got to five. Then with the margin at three and under 10 seconds to go, the Johnnies decided to foul Hamers instead of allowing him to tie the game.

The strategy paid off as Hamers made the first, but missed the second on purpose and the rebound was gathered by the Johnnies as Saint John's went on to win 69-67.

Hamers matched a career-high 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting on 3-point attempts. Tester had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Dahlman had a solid game with eight points and seven assists. Seth Marx had 17 points to lead the Johnnies.

The Saints shot 49-percent for the game, but were just 7-for-14 from the free throw line. The Johnnies (1-1) were 44-percent from the field and 80-percent from the charity stripe (16-for-20). 

The Saints (0-3) will be back at home on Tuesday night when they host Division II's University of Minnesota, Crookston at Reif Gymnasium. The action is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live at csssaints.com.