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Last-second shot rims out, St. John's basketball loses first MIAC game to Augsburg

zach dwyer, st. cloud times
·4 min read

COLLEGEVILLE — St. John's nearly pulled off a 17-point comeback over Augsburg on Saturday afternoon, with Zach Hanson's contested shot rimming out at the buzzer as the Auggies celebrated a 67-66 win at Sexton Arena.

It was a clash of the top two teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, both entering the game 8-0 against MIAC opponents. The matchup lived up to the hype, as Augsburg got 30 points and 10 rebounds from junior Joe Palmer and a couple key shots in the final minutes to leave Collegeville with the one-point victory.

A woeful stretch of shooting for St. John's over the opening 20 minutes found them down 35-24 at halftime, trailing by as much as 17 points in the first half. The Johnnies responded well after the break and shot 62 percent from the field in the second half, including 5-7 on 3-pointers.

St. John's junior Mitchell Plombon is introduced as a starter Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at Sexton Arena.
St. John's junior Mitchell Plombon is introduced as a starter Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at Sexton Arena.

Senior guard Colton Codute made all four of his 3-point attempts to lead a late charge. Codute didn't take a single shot in the first half, but his 3's came at key times throughout the final 20 minutes.

He converted a four-point play to trim Augsburg's lead to one with just under nine minutes to play, and his next three-pointer tied the game at 52-52. His final 3-pointer gave the Johnnies a 62-58 lead with 3:23 to play, which would end up being their biggest lead of the game.

Palmer was huge in the closing moments for Augsburg, while he entered Saturday as the MIAC's leading scorer (22.5 points per game) and rebounder (9.4 per game). An SJU turnover ended with a Palmer transition 3-pointer as he fell into the scorer's table, giving the Auggies a 65-64 lead with 2:09 to play.

St. John's junior Mitchell Plombon had a chance to retake the lead with 1:03 to play, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one. Palmer wound down the next possession for Augsburg, hitting a turn around jumper as the shot clock expired to extend their lead to 67-64 with only 33 seconds to play.

Hanson made it a one-point game with his fifth basket of the half, and Augsburg missed a free throw with with 14 seconds to play to give the Johnnies a chance to draw up a final play with five seconds remaining. Augsburg was called for a questionable foul on the inbounds play, and freshman Kooper Vauhgn had a chance to win the game at the free throw line for St. John's.

His first free throw bounced off the rim but was tipped out of bounds by an Augsburg player, giving the Johnnies one final shot at victory. Hanson caught the inbounds pass and turned to score, with three Augsburg defenders leaping to alter the shot as it rimmed out at the final horn.

Plombon led the Johnnies with 16 points and six rebounds, followed by Codute with 15 points and five rebounds. Hanson finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Codute and Hanson combined to score 25 of their 27 points in the second half.

The Johnnies are now 8-1 in the MIAC and 11-3 overall, and they'll have to wait until Feb. 12 to face Augsburg again in Minneapolis.

The result could have a large impact on seeding for the MIAC tournament, which was announced on Thursday as an "All-Comers Tournament" this year due to the amount of games canceled due to COVID-19.

St. John's sophomore defends the ball Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at Sexton Arena.
St. John's sophomore defends the ball Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at Sexton Arena.

That means all 11 teams are eligible to qualify, compared to the usual top-six teams. Teams unable to play conference games due to COVID-19 protocols within their program were originally handed forfeits, but the MIAC decided to retroactively change them to cancellations.

The decision takes one win off the board from St. John's, who was given a forfeit win against Bethel earlier this month.

St. John's is back in action on Wednesday as they host St. Mary's in game two of their three-game home stand. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Zach Dwyer is a sports reporter and photographer for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-406-5660 or zdwyer@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @sctimeszach.

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This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. John's loses first MIAC game, falls short in final seconds