ELMHURST, Ill. – Four players reached double figures in scoring to lead the Elmhurst men's basketball team to an 82-76 win over Saint John's University (Minn.).
 

Elmhurst improved to 9-1 on the season with the victory while Saint John's slipped to 3-3 on the year.
 
Saint John's opened up an early 21-12 lead midway through the opening half before Elmhurst surged back. The Bluejays used a 19-4 over a seven minute span to take a 31-25 lead. Peyton Wyatt helped spark the Elmhurst rally by knocking down a trip of three-pointers. Saint John's recovered from the Elmhurst run, finishing the final 3:30 of the half on an 8-2 run to pull even at 33-33 at halftime.
 
With the score even at 39 early in the second the Bluejays opened up an 10-2 run to take a 49-41 lead. St. John's slowly pulled even at 58-58 after a Patrick Strom layup. The two teams traded buckets for the next two minutes, before Elmhurst used 10-2 run to reestablish an eight-point advantage. Three-pointers from Nathan Rogers and Kyle Wuest helped spark the Bluejays' run.
 

Saint John's closed to within two points with 1:49 left to play after Alex Schmitt splashed home a three-pointer, but Wuest hit a pair of free throws to put Elmhurst back up four. After a Saint John's free throw, Wuest converted a three-point play to put the Bluejays up by six with a minute to play and put the game out of reach.
 
Elmhurst shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the floor, including 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from beyond the arc. Half of Elmhurst's made buckets came from three-point range. The Bluejays were solid from the foul line, hitting 27-of-35 attempts (77.1 percent). Elmhurst also won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Saint John's 39-33.
 
Will Nixon powered Elmhurst's attack in the paint, scoring a team-leading 18 points while shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the foul line. He finished one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Bryant Ackerman added 15 points and eight rebounds, hitting 4-of-9 shots from beyond the arc. After a scoreless first half, Wuest scored 14 points in the second half. Wyatt finished with 14 points, including 10 in the first half, while shooting 4-of-5 from three-point range. Brandon Schwebke chipped in with eight points for the Bluejays.
 
Saint John's finished the game shooting 43.3 percent (29-of-67), including 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from long distance. Schmitt led all scorers with a game-high 21 points. After scoring just three points in the opening half, Schmitt scored 16 in the game's final 20 minutes. Mitchell Kuck added 13 points while Joe Risinger scored 12. Blake Maslonkowski and Strom finished with 10 points apiece.
 
Elmhurst closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule by hosting Kalamazoo College on December 30.