University of St. Thomas Athletics
UW-River Falls
Men's Basketball wins in overtime at River Falls
12/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas 87, UW-River Falls 84 (1 OT)
Sophomore center Alex McCoy scored all of his career-high 19 points in the second half and overtime as the No. 4-ranked St. Thomas men's basketball team rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit and outlasted host UW-River Falls in overtime, 87-84, Saturday night in the championship of the Falcons' tournament.
St. Thomas (8-1) played its third consecutive game without All-American center Isaac Rosefelt, who has been slowed by illness. The Tommies trailed 33-13 and were still down 47-32 at halftime before chipping away at the deficit in the second half.
Senior forward Mike Keating had his fifth double-double of the season (22 points, 12 rebounds) before fouling out in the final seconds of regulation. Keating scored 10 points during a 28-9 run midway through the second half.
Senior guard Bryan Schnettler, who played all 45 minutes, had 12 of his 21 points in the first half and posted his sixth 20-point game of the season. Schnettler now has 964 points in 64 games with St. Thomas over three seasons, including 223 3-point baskets.
Junior forward Lonnie Robinson matched his career high with 18 points.
McCoy, who scored nine points total in two previous career varsity games, made two free throws with 1:39 left to give UST an 80-79 lead. The Falcons had a chance to take the lead with :14 to go but made just one of two free throws for an 80-80 score. Schnettler's 3-point shot to win missed, and the game went to overtime.
McCoy had six of UST's seven points in overtime, including a pair of three-point plays, the latter with 46 seconds to play that broke an 84-84 tie. After two missed UST free throws, the Falcons couldn't hit a 3-point shot at the end that would have forced a second overtime.
The Toms outrebounded River Falls 40-39, had a modest 11 turnovers, and made 20-of-25 at the foul line. The Falcons shot 61% from the field in the first half but 35% over the final 25 minutes.
For the Falcons (5-7), freshman Nate Robertson had 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and Jontae Koonkaew had 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds despite going 0-for-9 from 3-point range. It was UWRF's third December loss by four or less points.
St. Thomas returns to conference play with two road games this week -- Wednesday at Carleton (5:45 p.m.) and Saturday at Bethel (1 p.m.).
