University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saint John's
Toms race past Johnnies
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Senior Mike Keating had 15 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to lead the top-seeded St. Thomas men's basketball team to a 75-49 victory over second-seed St. John's in Saturday night's MIAC men's basketball playoff championship before 1,850 at sold-out Schoenecker Arena.
Senior Bryan Schnettler scored 16 points and senior Isaac Rosefelt added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the No. 6-ranked Tommies (24-3), who won their second MIAC playoff championship in a row on their home floor.
The Toms ran their conference home court win streak to 19 and sent the Johnnies to their 15th loss at Schoenecker in their last 17 visits since 1994. UST is also 6-0 in home postseason games in the Schnettler-Rosefelt era.
UST claimed the conference's automatic qualifying spot into the 59-team Division III playoffs. The Toms will learn their first-round pairing Monday morning.
St. John's (20-7), the conference runner-up, is expected to receive an at-large bid when the NCAA playoff field in announced Sunday night. Senior Craig Schafer had 15 points and nine rebounds and Jason Fogt scored 10 off the bench to lead the Johnnies.
Junior Lonnie Robinson had 11 points for St. Thomas, which never trailed. UST had only five turnovers on the game and posted a 42-36 rebounding edge. The Toms shot 56% in the first half and 47% on the game. They raced to a 20-6 lead and pushed the margin to 43-25 at halftime. St. John's was never closer than 17 thereafter.
The Johnnies went 0-for-15 from 3-point range before they connected on one with 31 seconds to go. They shot 39% from the field in the first half and 33% on the game, nd only made 8-of-14 at the foul line. The Johnnie starting guards combined for only two points, 25 under their collective scoring average.
St. Thomas claimed its seventh playoff title in its 13th trip to the finals. The 26-point victory matches the largest championship-game winning margin in the 23-year history of the MIAC playoffs, recorded four years ago on the same floor when Gustavus scored a 62-36 victory over an injury-depleated Tommie team.
