ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY TOOK ON CONCORDIA ST PAUL IN A MEN'S BASKETBALL EXHIBITION GAME

St. John's University traveled to St. Paul Minnesota for a men's basketball exhibition game at the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia University St. Paul.

Concordia won the tip. Both teams started out the game trying to figure out what the other was going to do.

St. John's started out in a zone defense. They wanted to slow down the Concordia offense.

Concordia wanted to get the ball into the hands of Terez Wayne VanPelt. He led an up tempo offense.

The score went back and forth throughout the early goings of the game. Kenny Olafeso was able to drive to the basket and was fouled and made the free throw attempt.

Kenny and Peter Olafeso both did a good job of shooting the ball. Their teammates did a good job of getting the ball into their hands.

St. John's had a hard time hitting shots in the first half. They didn't get down on themselves as they kept shooting the ball.

St. John's went to a full court zone defense. They looked to trap and force Concordia into the corners. They were able to do a good job of that.

St. John's went on a run midway through the first half. There was nothing that Concordia could do. Concordia did  however keep control of their composure.

St. John's called a timeout with 9:43 left in the first half. The score was Concordia St. Paul 16 and St. John's 10.

St. John's did a good job of slowing down the Concordia offense.

Isaiah Thomas for Concordia was able to step back from behind the three-point line and knock down some deep three-point shots.

Zach Richard Towle for Concordia was also able to step back behind the three-point line and drop some three-point shots.

Concordia went to a trapping defense and St. John’s had trouble handling the pressure.

Concordia called a timeout with 2:41 left in the first half. The score was Concordia St. Paul 35 and St. John's 19.

Concordia kept on running their plays and were able to make easy baskets down the stretch.

At halftime the score was Concordia St. Paul 42 and St. John's 21.

St. John's started with the ball to open the second half. Concordia started out in a zone defense. 

Kevin McKenzie made some nice moves to the basket for St. John's. The St. .John's players didn't back down they kept on playing hard and attacking the basket. They really were smart with the ball and didn't back down coming out of the halftime break.

Peter Olafeso continued to step up and knock down shots. If Peter was to get into trouble his teammates were always around to get the pass to get him out of the jam.

With 9:34 left in regulation there was a media timeout. The score was Concordia St. Paul 60 and St. John's 39.

Concordia continued to do a good job of scoring baskets in transition. Whenever they had a chance they would get it into the hands of their guards and they would bring it down the court.

St. John's swung the ball around the three-point arch. They looked to get the ball into their post players if he was not available they would try to dribble it past the Concordia St. Paul defenders.

Concordia St. Paul led for all of the game. St. John's didn't back down as they fought hard throughout the whole game. I thought that everyone played well for Concordia. Peter and Kenny Olafeso fed off of each other’s intensity. I thought Terez Wayne VanPelt looked good on the floor when they were out there. Isaiah Thomas provided an offensive spark when his team needed it.

St. John's had a hard time making their shots. They were not able to handle the physical play of Concordia.

Concordia St. Paul came away with the 76-51 victory over St. John’s.

St. John's was led in scoring by Seth Marx with 8 points. They shot 19-59 from the field and that included going 3-14 from behind the three-point line. St. John's was 10-17 from the free throw line.

Concordia St. Paul was lead in scoring by Peter Olafeso with 23 points and Kenny Olafeso who had 11 points. They shot 28-55 from the field and that included going 6-18 from behind the three-point line. Concordia St. Paul was 14-21 from the free throw line.

HAMLINE BEATS SAINT JOHN'S ON SENIOR NIGHT

Tony Thrasher (Sr., Hustisford,Wis.) helped make Senior Night at Hutton Arena memorable for five graduating Pipers, as Hamline University defeated Saint John’s, 82-64.

After an even opening 12 minutes of play, Thrasher gave the Pipers lead at 20-17 with eight minutes to go until halftime. The Pipers wouldn’t back down heading into the locker room, as Thrasher tallied 13 of his 15first-half points in the final eight minutes before halftime.

The Pipers prevented any individual Johnnie from scoring more than five points in the first twenty minutes, as they led by eight, 33-25, at halftime.

The Pipers held onto the multiple point lead for the first seven minutes of the second half until the Johnnies closed to within one point at42-41. The Pipers regained their momentum, climbing back to a 50-43 lead on an Eric Clute (So., Hawley, Minn.) trey with just over ten minutes to play.

Sam Blank (So., Rollingstone, Minn.) responded with a three on the other end of the court half a minute later to cut the lead to four at 50-46,but Carl Hipp (So., Little Canada, Minn.) responded with a quick rebound-layup combination to bring the lead back to six at 52-48.

The Pipers maintained a strong lead for the remainder of the game, as Clute tallied 20 of his team-high 26 points in the second half.

Thrasher finished with 19 points, while Hipp had a double-double with 17points and 15 rebounds.

Chris Schwartz was the only Johnnie in double-digits, scoring 16.

The game was the last at Hutton Arena for Thrasher, Brandon Hayes (Sr.,Bloomington, Minn.) Nick Hutchinson (Atwater, Minn.), Kory Kelzer (Mayer, Minn.) and Tanner Anderson (Eden Prairie, Minn.).

The Pipers are now 9-14, 8-11 MIAC with the conference win while the Johnnies are 13-10, 11-7 MIAC. Hamline will travel to the University of North Dakota on Monday, February 16, for a 7:00 p.m. game. The Pipers’final game of the season will be at St. Thomas on Saturday, February 21, at 3:00 p.m.