University of St. Thomas Athletics
25-3
Central (Iowa)
19-10
Saarela, Montero fuel MBB playoff victory
3/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By DOUG HENNES
Ryan Saarela couldn't have chosen a better time to have a bounce-back game.
The 6-foot-7 senior center had a disappointing outing last Sunday when St. Thomas fell to St. Olaf 72-66 in the MIAC men's basketball championship playoff game. He made just three for 11 from the field for seven points and had several shots blocked.
That performance was far in Saarela's rear-view mirror on Friday night when the Tommies opened the NCAA Division III tournament against Central of Iowa in Schoenecker Arena. The all-conference player dominated from the outset, scoring a career-high 25 points on 11 of 14 shooting, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots.
The result: a 78-66 win for No. 8 St. Thomas (25-3) and the right to advance to a second-round game at 7 p.m. Saturday in Schoenecker against 18th-ranked Elmhurst (22-6), a 73-63 winner over UW-Oshkosh. Central finished 19-10.
"Sunday was a tough game," said the soft-spoken Saarela, who praised his teammates for "the way they picked me up" and encouraged him to put the loss behind him and focus on Central.
Coach John Tauer thought St. Thomas could be successful inside against Central and he appreciated the energy brought by the home crowd. The Tommies dropped their opening-round national tournament games the last two years on the road.
"These guys play so consistently," he said. "This time of year, every game is a grind-it-out battle . . . and our guys have been battle-tested."
Even first half
The lead seesawed in the first half, with six ties and 11 lead changes. Senior forward Taylor Montero hit a jumper at the buzzer to tie the game 30-30. Saarela dominated the first half with 13 points, and Montero pulled down eight rebounds.
St. Thomas took the lead for good at 42-41 on a Saarela layup, taking off on an 11-2 run to go up by eight points with 12 minutes left in the second half. A Cullen Ogren jumper from the free throw line gave the Tommies their biggest margin, 65-52, at the 7:49 mark.
The lead shrunk to four points in less than two minutes as Central made two 3-pointers and completed a 3-point play on three straight possessions. Montero stepped in and turned the game around with four plays – he dug an offensive rebound out of a corner and fed Saarela for a dunk, and then followed a defensive rebound with a 3-point shot.
The lead was back to nine points, at 70-61, and Central never got closer than seven. The Tommies closed out the win at the free throw line.
"Our guys responded really well," Tauer said of how the Tommies handled the 9-0 Central run. "They didn't panic."
Montero finished with 16 points. He also chipped in a career-high 15 rebounds, triple his season average, and Tauer noticed the output. "It usually takes Taylor a month to get 15 rebounds," Tauer joked. Montero just laughed.
Tommie Notes
Junior guard Grant Schaeffer was the only other Tommie in double figures, with 13 points, all in the second half. He was scoreless in the first half on 0 for 3 shooting.
St. Thomas, after shooting 41 percent in the first half, made 18 of 30 shots (60 percent) in the second half to finish the game at 50 percent. The Tommies dominated the boards 43-28, including 11-5 on offensive rebounds that led to 15 second-chance points to Central's 3.
In Elmhurst, St. Thomas will face a team that started the season 16-1 and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the polls before losing five of its next 11 games. The game was tied 29-29 at halftime but the Bluejays pulled away, outscoring Oshkosh 34-4 at the free throw line.
