COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's claimed its ninth Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Basketball Playoff title on Saturday night, rolling to a 74-59 victory over Carleton on the Johnnies' home court.
| Box Score |
Saint John's now heads to the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament as the automatic qualifier from the MIAC.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Seven Johnnies scored at least eight points, though none scored more than 12 in the game. Connor Schwob led the way for SJU, tying for the team-high with 12 points and leading all players with ten rebounds.
-Saint John's nearly led from pillar to post, playing from ahead for 35:59 of the game and only trailing once, by a score of 4-2, three minutes into the contest.
-Carleton guard Luke Harris led all players with 22 points and knocked down a game-high four three-point shots.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
-With the victory, Saint John's earned the MIAC's automatic qualifier to the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. This is the 13th time in program history that the Johnnies will head to the NCAA Tournament. SJU's last Tournament appearance came as the MIAC's AQ in 2022.
-The Playoff title is the ninth for Saint John's. The Johnnies have won three of the last five MIAC Playoff championships (2020, 2022, and 2025).
-The Johnnies entered the evening ranked No. 22 in the NCAA Power Index. MIAC regular season co-champion Gustavus is the next conference squad listed in the NPI at No. 40. There are 43 automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Tournament; the remaining 21 at-large spots will go to the next-highest ranked teams in the NPI.
UP NEXT
-Saint John's received the MIAC Playoff championship plaque and the Conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Regular season co-champion Gustavus will await Selection Monday to see if the league sends any additional teams to the NCAA Tournament via at-large bids. The NCAA will announce the national tournament field during its annual selection show on NCAA.com on Monday, March 3.
2025 MIAC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals | Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025
No. 3 Hamline 74, No. 6 Concordia 59 | Box Score |
No. 4 Carleton 73, No. 5 Augsburg 57 | Box Score |
Semifinals | Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025
No. 4 Carleton 75, No. 1 Gustavus 64 | Box Score |
No. 2 Saint John's 72, No. 3 Hamline 54 | Box Score |
Championship | Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025 |
No. 1 Saint John's 74, No. 4 Carleton 59 | Box Score |