Men’s Basketball suffers a one-point loss to Denver by way of an alley-oop as time expires

Denver, Colo. – The St. Thomas men's basketball team led by as many as 18 points and held a one-point led in the final 10 seconds of the game before a last-second alley-oop by Denver earned the Pioneers a 75-74 win.

With the loss, St. Thomas falls to 6-7 on the season and 1-1 in Summit League action.

The Purple raced out to a 21-3 lead in the first eight minutes of the game. During that run, the Tommies connected on 7-of-12 attempts from the field, 4-of-7 shots from behind the arc and all three attempts from the charity stripe. Grad student G Ryan Lindberg and senior G Riley Miller fueled the run with seven and six points respectively.

St. Thomas took a 44-29 lead into intermission, behind a 13-of-29 (45 percent) shooting effort from the field and a 6-of-16 (37 percent) showing from behind the arc and the Tommies connected on 12-of-13 (92 percent) first-half free throw attempts. The Purple committed only one first-half turnover compared to nine turnovers by the Pioneers. St. Thomas converted those nine turnovers into 15 points off turnovers.

Individually, Miller and senior G Anders Nelson each contributed 11 points and Lindberg chipped in seven points in the opening 20 minutes.

In the first five minutes of the second half, the Pioneers outscored the Tommies, 12-4, cutting the St. Thomas to seven points, 48-41, with 15 minutes to play. The Denver run extended to 19-8 cutting the St. Thomas lead to four points, 52-48, with 12:28 to play. With just under ten minutes to play, Denver tied the game at 55-55.

With seven minutes to play, the Pioneers opened a 60-58 lead. With 6:15 remaining Denver opened up its largest lead of the game, 62-58. St. Thomas went on a 4-0 run to tied the game at 62-62 with 5:28 to play.

At the final media timeout with 3:35 to play, Denver held a three point, 70-67 lead. With just under one minute to play, trailing by one point, Miller knocked down a three-point shot to open a 72-70 lead with 55 seconds to play.

With 41 seconds to play, Denver converted on an old-fashioned three-point play with the and-one. With 20 seconds to play, Nelson made a layup to own a 74-73 lead. With five seconds to play, junior F Brooks Allen stepped to the line for the bonus, missed the free throw. Denver got the rebound, pushed the ball down the floor and connected on an alley-oop as time expired to earn the 75-74 win.

St. Thomas made 45 percent (26-of-58) of its shots from the field, 35 percent (9-of-26) of its shots from behind the arc and committed only six turnovers in the contest.

Individually, Nelson led the Purple with 23 points and Miller contributed 17 points, including two huge three-pointers down the stretch.

The Tommies return to action next Wed., Dec. 28 in their final non-conference game of the season. St. Thomas hosts North Central University, tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. in Schoenecker Arena.

Men’s Basketball suffers a one-point loss to Denver by way of an alley-oop as time expires

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Team Stats

Anders Nelson

Riley Miller

Ryan Lindberg

Burt Hedstrom

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Ryan Lindberg

Riley Miller

Anders Nelson

University of St. Thomas Athletics