As fans cheered for their respective teams in true Tommie-Johnnie fashion, the St. Thomas men’s basketball team snapped its two game losing streak with a 82-69 victory over St. John’s behind a lights-out offensive performance Saturday evening at Schoenecker Arena.

Guard Grant Shaeffer said it was the second time in his career that the Tommies lost two games in a row, but it was good to get back on track after struggling in the last few games.

“(Losing two games) is kind of uncharted territory around here, but that’s a good thing. It’s a complement,” said Shaeffer.

Coach John Tauer mentioned that after losing two games some programs start to question themselves, but his players “showed a really good resolve in terms of both their preparation for this game and their execution during the game.”

Guard Michael Hannon said he has been watching Tommie-Johnnie basketball games since he was young, so playing in the game tonight was a great experience.

“The energy comes by itself. You got the fans. The players are hyped-up and even the coaches are pretty pumped up. It’s awesome,” Hannon said.

Snow flurries might have been falling outside, but in the arena the Tommies were raining threes.

St. Thomas had little trouble scoring. After a scoreless first three minutes the Tommies couldn’t miss. The team tallied 14 three-pointers, 12 of which came in the first half.

Hoping to regroup, St. John’s was forced to take a timeout after the Tommies drained 11 unanswered points.

The Johnnies surrendered 55 points in the first half, but limited the Tommies to only 27 in the second.

“They are a good team. They made adjustments the second half and we weren’t shooting as well … that was the difference, but we stuck with it,” Shaeffer said.

Hannon lead the team with 20 points. Forward Ryan Boll added 17 points and points Shaeffer scored 15.

Hannon said Shaeffer has helped his teammates transition into their rolls and find confidence on the court.

“There is not a better leader in the country than Grant Shaeffer, so just him instilling that trust in us newer guys who are playing helps a lot,” Hannon said. “Just the confidence that he trusts in us when he passes us the ball that we are going to make it or that we are going to make a play.”

Schaeffer also reached a major milestone, recording his 1000th career point.

“I think it will be cooler in 25 years when I’m done playing and look back, but right now the most important thing is getting the win,” Schaeffer said. “A thousand points, 10,000 points that doesn’t really matter to me.”

Guard David Stokman was the only St. John’s player to reach double digits with 18 points.

St. Thomas’s will face UW-Stevens Point Wednesday Dec. 14 at Schoenecker Arena. Tip off is at 7 p.m.

Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.