DANBURY, Conn. - After holding Bates College to a 3-for-25 outing from three-point attempts in a win yesterday, the Western Connecticut State University men's basketball team fell victim to a red-hot shooting Saint John's University (MN), falling 93-78, in a non-conference matchup on Sunday afternoon at Feldman Arena.
WestConn junior guard Makai Coleman (Newtown, Conn.) came off the bench to score a team-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, and he added two steals. The visitors hit 16 three-pointers en route to the victory.
WestConn started well. Sophomore guard/forward Avery Taitt-Christina (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) scored on a layup and added the free throw to make it 3-0, then tied the game at 6-6 with a three. Sophomore guard Jaeden Bull (New Castle, Del.) put WestConn up 8-6 with a tip-in. Kyle Johnson then answered with a trifecta for Saint John's, and the visitors never trailed again.
The Johnnies pulled away behind their clutch shooting. Hudson Hochstedler knocked down back-to-back threes in the first half, and Saint John's led by as many as 26 after Baiden Bean's three made it 50-24 with 1:48 left in the first half. Saint John's hit 11-of-24 three-pointers in just the first half.
Coleman sparked a late first-half rally, scoring eight points in the final four minutes, including a three off a pass from senior guard Elijah Jean-Guillaume (New Haven, Conn.). WestConn closed the half on a 14-6 run to cut the deficit to 51-34 at the break.
Bull started the second half with a layup, a free throw and another layup that trimmed the lead to 53-39. Saint John's responded with a 10-2 run to stretch it back to 24 points. WestConn outscored Saint John's 44-42 over the stanza, and junior guard Armaan Sandhu (Abbotsford, British Columbia) hit a three and added a fast-break layup, a block and two steals. Junior guard Rollins Youte (Bridgeport, Conn.) scored seven points and picked up three steals, and freshman guard Ameer Smith (New York, N.Y.) scored five points with three assists and three steals.
Bull scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed five rebounds, four on the offensive end. Taitt-Christina and Sandhu each scored nine points, and junior guard Nicholas Moore (Amherst, N.Y.) netted five and swiped three steals. WestConn forced 19 turnovers and finished with 15 steals. The Wolves outscored Saint John's 43-29 on the bench, 32-20 in the paint, and 13-9 on fast breaks.
Saint John's shot 52% (26-for-50) and 44.4% from three-point range (16-for-36). Hochstedler scored 20 points, going 5-for-9 from three, and Peyton Podany added 17 with four threes. Johnson notched 14, and Liam Farniok and Vincent Hillesheim each chipped in with 13.
With the loss, WestConn falls to 2-1, while Saint John's improves to 4-0. The Wolves will look to get back to their winning ways when they travel to non-league foe Clark University on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
