University of St. Thomas Athletics
30-3
Benedictine (Ill.)
31-1
Last team standing: Tommies take NCAA crown
3/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By DOUG HENNES
SALEM, Virginia – In the locker room before Saturday night's NCAA Division III men's basketball championship game, St. Thomas coach John Tauer boiled down his team's chances against undefeated Benedictine to two simple words:
"Toughness," he told his players, and "togetherness."
Three hours later, after his Tommies had defeated Benedictine 82-76 to win their second national title in six seasons, Tauer added a third word – "trust" – in trying to describe their success.
"Their trust in one another, their willingness to share the ball, how they don't care who scores . . . those are very special things," Tauer said during a post-game news conference. "Words cannot express how proud I am of them . . . This is a dream come true."
Seniors Taylor Montero and Ryan Saarela grabbed the spotlight for St. Thomas, combining for 53 points and 21 rebounds. Montero was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after scoring 27 points, one off his career high, and contributing a game-high 11 rebounds. Saarela notched a career-high 26 points, including 18 in the second half.
Montero, Saarela and guard Grant Shaeffer made the all-Final Four team.
Montero recalled how a knee injury – a torn ACL in a basketball tournament, two weeks before his senior year at Cretin-Derham Hall – had him wondering if he would play sports in college.
"To go from that point to being national champions is just incredible," he said. "I just ended my career as a national champ. You can't get any better than that!"
In knocking off Benedictine, the last unbeaten team in all of NCAA basketball, the No. 8 Tommies (30-3) completed an eight-day swing in which they defeated three teams with a combined record of 90-2: No. 1 Augustana, No. 2 Benedictine and No. 4 Christopher Newport.
The win capped a four-year record of 106-15 (.876) for six seniors – Montero, Saarela, Tillman, Jimmy Remke, Cullen Ogren and Thomas Sjoberg – and helped to make up for UST's Final Four semifinal loss here in 2013. When the Tommies won their first title in 2011, the four-year record of those seniors was 106-13 (.891).
"This is just tremendous," said athletic director Steve Fritz, who coached the 2011 championship team. "Over the years, you wonder if you ever will get to the next level and have a chance to play for a national title. Now we have won two of them in six years!"
Tauer called Benedictine a resilient team that wouldn't give up. The Eagles trailed by 12 points with nine minutes left but rallied behind first-team All-America center Lucas Johnson, who scored 21 points. A Johnson dunk with 1:32 left in the second half cut the St. Thomas lead to 73-71, but Montero countered with a layup and the Tommies made 7 of 10 free throws to ice the game.
As they did in their semifinal win over Christopher Newport on Friday night, the Tommies again won the game at the free-throw line, where they outscored Benedictine 27-6. Tauer noted that his team struggled from the line early in the season, and he always tried to offered simple advice.
"There is paralysis by analysis on free throws," he said, "so just get up there and shoot them."
Shaeffer, who made six of seven free throws en route to 14 points, laughed at the "paralysis by analysis" comment. "No one knows what that means, coach," Shaeffer said, poking a little fun at the man who also teaches psychology.
Tauer was particularly proud that St. Thomas outrebounded Benedictine 36-32. The Eagles came into the game with an average rebounding margin of 15 per game.
"I told our guys that if we win the rebounding battle, we'll win the game," Tauer said.
For the second straight night, the Tommies struggled from the 3-point line. They had made 31 of 57 3-pointers in their first four playoff games, but went 1 for 8 against Christopher Newport and 1 for 7 against Benedictine. Tauer credited those teams for "running us off the arc" and denying the long ball, but doing so "opened up the lanes and allowed us to take the ball to the basket."
Saarela was asked what he thought of the team's recovery from the Feb. 28 MIAC playoff championship game, which St. Thomas lost to St. Olaf.
"We regrouped in practice," he said. "We got back to the basics. And we got it done."
Fast Start
St. Thomas never trailed in the first half and once led by 11, paced by Montero's 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting. During three straight possessions, Montero made two free throws and two baskets on drives into the lane, and later hit back-to-back shots, including one from 3-point range.
Saarela had eight points and Shaeffer chipped in six as St. Thomas shot 52 percent from the field to lead 37-32 at halftime.
The Tommies scored the first six points of the second half to build an 11-point lead, and didn't let Benedictine get closer than five over the next seven minutes. They had a 12-point lead with 8:11 to go, thanks to making 13 of 14 free throws during one stretch and Saarela's three drives for layups from near the top of the key.
"After last night (when he fouled out and had only seven points), I wanted to come out aggressive," he said, and he praised his teammates "for believing in me. They put me in a good spot tonight."
Benedictine wasn't done, however. The Eagles chipped away, and a 12-4 run and Johnson's dunk drew them to 73-71. Montero responded with a layup with 1:13 to go, and rebounded an Eagles' missed shot. Benedictine committed a foul, and Cortez Tillman sank two free throws for a 77-71 lead and some breathing room.
When the buzzer sounded, confetti fell from the rafters and fans swarmed the court to watch the Tommies pose for photos and cut down the net. Among the fans was President Julie Sullivan, who spoke to the team before both of their Final Four games.
"I couldn't be prouder," she said. "We were so strong down the stretch, and we put the game away when we needed to. It was a tough game. They kept coming back, and we would not give up."
Another delighted spectator was Tommy Hannon, brother of sophomore guard Michael Hannon and the center on St. Thomas' 2011 national title team. He said there was no comparison in how he felt during the two championship games.
"Tonight was more nerve-racking," he said. "I was sweating and my hands were shaking. This is so sweet – and it's five years to the day when we won our first title."
Assistant coach Jay Pivec, in his third year at St. Thomas, also found the moment special. He took his Minneapolis Community College teams to four national tournaments and lost in three championship games.
"This is very emotional for me," he said. "I am so happy for the kids. It's a great feeling to be part of this family. I am so lucky."
Tommie Notes
The 30-win season is the fourth in eight years for St. Thomas, which has the best record in Division III during that period at 211-30 (.876), including 19-6 in the NCAA playoffs. The Tommies have 395 wins in the 2000s, exceeded only by Wooster (434), Amherst (415) and UW-Stevens Point (402).
St. Thomas has showed remarkable balance all season, and four players finished the season with more than 400 points. Shaeffer led with 481 points, followed by Montero (480), Tillman (458) and Saarela (437). Montero finished his 119-game career with 1,137 points and 405 rebounds.
This was the fourth Final Four and second national title for Tauer, who was an assistant coach under Fritz when the Tommies won the 2011 championship. Tauer played in the 1994 Final Four and coached here in 2013. His five-year record at St. Thomas is 128-22 (.853).
The Tommies have won 16 national titles in eight different sports: baseball (two), men's basketball (two), women's basketball (one), men's cross country (two), women's cross country (five), men's indoor track (1), softball (two) and volleyball (one).
Ten teams have won two or more Division III titles in the 42-history of the tournament: North Park (five), UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Whitewater (four each), and St. Thomas, Amherst, Calvin, Scranton, SUNY-Potsdam and Washington-St. Louis (two each). This was the first time that two Catholic universities had met in the championship game.
