Junior guard Anders Nelson scored a game-high 23 points and junior center Parker Bjorklund added 14 points and six boards in his first career Tommie-Johnnie game as No. 7-ranked St. Thomas' posted a 76-64 home defeat of No. 5-ranked St. John's in MIAC men's basketball Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena.

In playing their first game in 19 days, Coach John Tauer's Tommies (3-0 overall, 2-0 MIAC) had only eight turnovers and shot 52 percent from the floor.

The win for the Purple moved them alone into the MIAC lead and ended the Johnnies' 16-game road winning streak dating back to February 2019. These teams are scheduled to play a non-conference game March 3 in Collegeville.

Tommie junior Riley Miller added 15 points, and Burt Hedstrom chipped in nine points and five rebounds. Will Engels added six points and nine rebounds in only 12 minutes off the bench.

St. John's (3-1, 2-1) trailed 35-30 at halftime and never pulled closer than three in the final half. The Johnnies climbed within 62-56 with 3:44 to play on Ryan Thissen's layup. But Miller and Nelson sank 3-point shots on consecutive possessions to extend the lead back to 12.

Mitchell Plombon scored 19 points and Thissen tallied 16 for SJU.

St. Thomas plays Saturday at Augsburg (2 p.m.).