Collegeville, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team traveled this weekend to take on the Johnnies from Saint John's University. The Johnnies led at the halftime break by double-digits, and despite the Saints generating good offense, Saint John's prevailed in today's contest by a score of 97-68.

How it Happened

First Half

The Saints offense got started to open the game with Aaron Keykal (Princeton, Minn./Princeton HS) and Jacquez Overstreet (Appleton, Wis./Oshkosh West (Marian University)) nailing a pair of jumpers to cut the early Johnnies lead in half, trailing 8-4. 

Koy Nelson (Port Wing, Wis./South Shore HS) was able to put an end to a quick Johnnies run with a jumper, followed by a three-pointer by Overstreet to make the score 18-13. 

Nelson and Drelyn Jones (Leyden, Il./Leyden Highschool) both drained three-pointers after a Johnnies run to bring the Saints deficit to under double-digits. 

Overstreet knocked down the Saints' next field goal at the 7:13 mark, as the Johnnies still held a 36-21 lead over CSS. 

Kai Penney (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo Highschool) scored his first points in the contest, as well as Nelson nailing the Saints' next two field goals with just under a minute to play in the half. 

Nelson continued his hot-hand to end the half with a three-point shot, as the Johnnies took a 49-33 lead at the halftime break. 

Second Half

Nelson and Keykal got the first field goals for CSS to kickoff the second half, as Nelson nailed yet another three-pointer and Keykal got a layup to fall for an assist from Nelson. 

Minutes later, Jones drained a beautiful step back jumper, and Keykal got a shot to go down on the following possession. 

At the 12:17 mark in the half, Jones was able to grab an offensive rebound and a putback layup on a great effort, but the Johnnies still led by a score of 65-46. 

The Johnnies expanded their lead over CSS before the Saints' next field goal at the 8:18 mark with a Nelson pull up jumper, with Saint John's leading 77-51. 

Kobe Karels (Cambridge, Minn./Isanti (Aurora University)) got his first points of the afternoon around the 5:00 point in the half, scoring on a layup. 

Nelson knocked down his next two field goal attempts to bring his point total to 28, but the Saints still trailed 93-61. 

Jones added another three-pointer in the closing minutes, as well as a Nelson driving layup, but the Johnnie's took today's game by a score of 97-68. 

Up Next

The Saints (6-10, 2-5 MIAC) will be back in action on Wednesday, January 22, where they will travel to take on the Royals from Bethel University. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.