Forward Zach Riedeman hit a combination of inside and outside shots to lead the St. Thomas men’s basketball team with 19 points Saturday afternoon against St. John’s University, but the Johnnies outlasted the Tommies 76-69 at Schoenecker Arena.

In their final home game of the regular season, St. Thomas (21-4, 18-2) honored its four seniors before the game in front of more than 1,600 fans there to watch the latest installment of the Tommie-Johnnie rivalry. Despite leading by as many as 11 points in the first half, St. Thomas was outscored 47-33 in the second half and lost to St. John’s (15-10, 13-7) for the second time this season.

“On the day we were honoring our seniors we hope for a different outcome, but the reality of sports is every night you’ve got to bring it,” coach John Tauer said. “We didn’t capitalize on some of our opportunities tonight, but that’s the nature of sports. St. John’s came out and earned this one.”

In front of a rowdy crowd, St. Thomas came out firing in the first half and jumped out to an early lead. Guard Marcus Alipate set the tone early when he hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap off a 12-4 run and prompt St. John’s to call a timeout in order to regroup.

“In the first half we came out really tough and wanting to play good defense. With the energy of the crowd, it was easy to get going,” Alipate said.

Outside shooting and offensive rebounding carried the Tommies through the first half. St. Thomas went 5-for-11 from beyond the arc and held a 6-2 advantage on offensive boards in the first half. Despite trailing by seven at halftime, St. John’s ended the half riding on the momentum of an 8-4 run.

St. John’s guard Patrick Butcher said the Tommie lead at the half wasn’t concerning.

“At halftime we thought we were in a good spot, just had to keep playing good defense. Then some shots started to fall, and once we got the lead, we just had to keep it,” Butcher said.

St. John’s carried its momentum from the first half into the second half and shot 66.7 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from downtown. Conversely, St. Thomas went ice cold in the second half, shooting 43.5 percent from the field and hitting just one of nine 3-point attempts.

Once the Johnnies grabbed the lead with 12:25 to play, they didn’t let it go for the rest of the game.

“Once there was about three minutes left in the game and we were up by … eight points it was just kind of like, ‘all right, let’s finish this thing out,’” Butcher said. “I didn’t think we had it in the bag until the buzzer sounded.”

St. Thomas also faced a scare in the second half when guard Erik Tengwall went down with a leg injury and did not return to the game.

“He didn’t return to the game. That’s all I know right now,” Tauer said in a postgame interview.

The defeat snapped a nine-game winning streak for St. Thomas and marked the second time the Tommies have lost to the Johnnies this season.

“I told the guys in the locker room after the game that at the start of the season our goal wasn’t to beat St. John’s. Our goal was to win a conference championship, which we did; win the MIAC playoffs, which we got coming up; and the ultimate goal is to win a national championship,” Riedeman said. “So yeah, this one sucks, it stinks to lose, but ultimately, we’ve got to come back on Monday stronger than ever … we’ve got things to look forward to.”

Riedeman, Tengwall, Josh Pella and Kevin Hannon were honored before the game as the team’s four seniors. The Tommies had already clinched the MIAC regular season title outright before Saturday’s game, and Alipate maintained the loss is just a “bump in the road” for the Tommies as they prepare for postseason play.

“In order to be great, you’re going to go through trials and tribulations like this,” Alipate said. “It’s definitely a learning experience. It’s definitely going to help us more than it’s going to hinder us, but we’ve got playoffs coming up, and it’s going to give us a little more of an edge when we play.”

The Tommies finish the regular season with their ninth-consecutive MIAC title and ninth-straight 20-win season. They will host a MIAC semifinal Friday against either Bethel or the winner of St. John’s and Gustavus.

“We’ve won 21 games for a reason, and all year our guys have played with great focus and trust in one another. We’re not going to ask them to do anything differently. Obviously we want to play better than we did tonight,” Tauer said. “We’re certainly not going to overhaul anything, a lot of it is just execution.”

Jacob Sevening can be reached at seve8586@stthomas.edu.