Saint John's basketball travels to Bethel for the MIAC Playoff Championship, and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, in Arden Hills. – Listen Live (WBHR-660 AM) | Live Stats/Live Video

TICKET INFORMATION: The Robertson Center seats around 1,000. GET THERE EARLY. Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for any students (5 years old and younger are free). There is no senior discount. MIAC Passes will be honored. No other passes are accepted.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's (19-8, 13-7 MIAC) advanced to the MIAC Playoff Championship game with an 80-78 upset of top-seeded St. Thomas Thursday night (Feb. 23) in St. Paul. With the ball and the game tied at 78-78 with 30.4 seconds left, sophomore guard David Stokman (Maple Lake, Minn.) drained the clock and found junior guard Garrett Goetz (Rosemount, Minn.), who dribbled to just outside the free-throw line and drilled the jumper with 2.3 seconds remaining. Junior guard Brent Hentges (Carver, Minn./Holy Family Catholic) deflected the inbounds pass and the loose ball rolled across the floor as time expired, sealing SJU's first playoff win at St. Thomas since the 2000 MIAC Playoff Championship.



St. Thomas the defending Division III national champions, erased a 14-point deficit (59-45) with a 23-5 run to gain a 68-64 lead with 8:36 remaining. The Johnnies answered with four straight points and the lead exchanged hands four times before junior guard Patrick Strom (Fargo, N.D./Shanley) drained a three-pointer to give SJU a two-point lead, 74-72, with 2:30 to play. Stokman and UST's Grant Shaeffer exchanged a pair of buckets each, but the latter made two free throws to re-tie the game at 78-78 with 30.4 seconds left.

The Johnnies opened the second half with an 8-0 run to gain a 51-39 lead with 17:06 left. UST answered with back-to-back three-pointers, but Stokman retaliated with eight consecutive points to give SJU the 59-45 lead. Stokman led SJU with 23 points, his 10th 20-point game of the season, including 21 in the second half alone. He was limited to two made free throws and eight minutes of play in the first half due to two fouls.

Junior post Tyler Weiss (Shakopee, Minn.) registered 16 points on six of eight shooting but did not record a rebound. He played the final 8:58 with four fouls, two of which were on the offensive end of the court. Strom collected 15 points, including 11 in the first half, and grabbed six rebounds. Goetz finished with eight points and five assists.

LONG TIME COMING: Prior to SJU's semifinal win on Thursday, the Johnnies' postseason record against the Tommies had not been favorable. In nine previous matchups, the Johnnies had prevailed only once -- the 2000 MIAC Championship game in St. Paul.

DAVID STREAKMAN: Stokman's streaky scoring has been a theme all season long. Despite a per-game scoring average of 17.5 points, Stokman has recorded 13 points in a single half 12 times this season. This includes a 29-point second half effort at Bethel Feb. 4, a 24-point first-half effort at Concordia-Moorhead Jan. 30 and Thursday's 21-point second-half outburst at St. Thomas.

HOT ON THE ROAD: Stokman brings his hottest shooting performances to other gyms. In 14 games away from Collegeville this season, Stokman has posted 22.2 points per game on 56.3 percent (90-for-160) shooting from the field and a lights-out 57.5-percent mark (46-for-80) from behind the three-point arc.

BACK IN THE TITLE GAME: SJU is making its 12th appearance (5-6 record) in the MIAC Playoff Championship game, its first since 2006-07, and last won the playoff title in 2001. The Johnnies will try to win their sixth MIAC Playoff crown (1985, 1986, 1988, 2000, 2001) Saturday.

IN THE MIAC: The MIAC's (all games) top two scoring and shooting (overall) teams are set to meet Saturday for the conference title. Although the Johnnies are a better team from behind the arc and the charity stripe, BU forces a league-best 14.8 turnovers per game.

Scoring (Offense)
1. BU, 80.9 ppg.
2. SJU, 79.7 ppg.

Scoring (Defense)
4. BU, 69.7 ppg.
5. SJU, 72.7 ppg.

Shooting Percentage (Offense)
1. SJU, .505 (751-1,488)
2. BU, .488 (780-1,599)

Shooting Percentage (Defense)
3. SJU, .442 (676-1,529)
5. BU, .452 (687-1,521)

Three-Point Percentage (Offense)
1. SJU, .423 (219-518)
6. BU, .360 (190-528)

Three-Point Percentage (Defense)
3. BU, .348 (165-474)
7. SJU, .373 (207-555)

Rebounding
3. BU, +3.3 rpg.
5. SJU, +2.4 rpg.

Turnovers Forced
1. BU, 14.8 tpg.
10. 10.2 tpg.

Free-Throw Percentage
2. SJU, .763 (431-565)
7. BU, .701 (354-505)

A LOOK AT THE ROYALS: Bethel (20-6, 15-5 MIAC) cooled off third-seeded Carleton to earn a 57-53 win in its MIAC Playoff Semifinal contest, ending the Knights' 14-game win streak, Thursday night in Arden Hills. The Royals shot only 35.5 percent from the floor but were able to force 19 turnovers, which led to a 22-9 scoring advantage. Freshman Granger Kingland led the way for Bethel with 15 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Derek Magnuson added 12 points and four steals, and senior Trevor Hall chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds. Junior Bridgeport Tusler leads the team with an average of 14.5 points per game. Magnuson leads the MIAC in shooting percentage (.620).

IN THE REGULAR SEASON: SJU and Bethel split its regular-season series, each with wins on the home court. In Collegeville on Jan. 16, SJU prevailed 87-81 behind a 25-point, 10-rebound effort from Weiss. Strom erupted for 20 first-half points, including a 5-for-6 effort from downtown. For Bethel, Magnuson led all scorers with 27 points on 11-for-15 from the field and seven rebounds.

In Arden Hills on Feb. 4, Bethel topped SJU, 90-83. Stokman netted 33 points, including 29 in the second half. Weiss added another double-double effort with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Johnnies. Bethel received four performances of 17 points or more: Brycen Wojta (21 points), Magnuson (18 points), Bridgeport Tusler (18 points) and Hall (17 points).

SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies are 56-27 against Bethel since the 1977-78 season, but just 20-19 on the Royals' home court. BU has won five of the last six meetings in Arden Hills. SJU is 2-0 against Bethel in the MIAC playoffs, both of which were played in Collegeville, including a 68-62 win in the MIAC Playoff Championship game on Feb. 22, 1986.