University of St. Thomas Athletics
24-2
Saint Mary's
14-13
Men's Hoops streak hits 13; on to playoff title clash
2/27/2020 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Sophomore guard Anders Nelson scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to lead the No. 2-ranked Tommies to Thursday night's 79-66 win over St. Mary's in an MIAC semifinal round playoff game at Schoenecker Arena.
Tommy Anderson scored 19 points for St. Thomas (24-2), which made 23-of 27 free throws to keep the Cardinals at bay.
Riding a 13-game win streak, the Purple advance to play at top-seed St. John's in Saturday night's playoff fiinal.
Raheem Anthony had 28 points, 10 rebounds and three assists for SMU (14-13), which was playng its fourth road game in nine days.
Standout junior forward Eli Cave, who came in averaging 19 points a game, fouled out with 5:59 left with 10 points and six boards in 27 minutes of play.
The Cardinals made seven treys in the first half and went to halftime tied 34-34. But the Cards missed all seven tries from 3-point range in the second half.
Anderson's 3-point basket 50 seconds into the second half put the Toms ahead to stay at 37-36.
The Cardinals cut a 15-point deficit to seven points twice in the final 3:30, but Riley Miller's 3-point basket with 2:05 left pushed the St. Thomas lead back to 10 at 70-60.
