University of St. Thomas Athletics
2-0,1-0MIAC
Concordia College
0-1,0-1MIAC
Miller masters the outside shot, sends Men's Hoops to win
2/6/2021 4:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Junior guard Riley Miller sank 8-of-9 shots from 3-point range en route to a career-high 30-point scoring game as St. Thomas (2-0 overall, 1-0 MIAC) pulled away to record a 90-61 win over the host Concordia Cobbers (0-1, 0-1) in Saturday's MIAC men's basketball contest in Moorhead.
Miller sank his first eight 3-point tries before missing his final attempt in the final 8:00. His eight treys are tied for the most by a Tommie in a conference game in 14 seasons, and are tied for the third most by any St. Thomas player. Since Miller joined the starting lineup in January 2020, the Tommies are 17-1. He's averaging 25.0 ppg with 13 made 3-pointers in the Purple's first two games of the 2020-21 season.
The Tommies received 83 points from starters, had only nine turnovers, built a 29-17 rebounding edge, and shot 55 percent from the floor.
Anders Nelson closed with 22 points and five assists, and Burt Hedstrom added 10 points, six boards and six assists. Junior center Parker Bjorklund, playing his first MIAC game, contributed 14 points and 12 rebounds. Bjorklund of Chaska High attended St. Thomas the previous two seasons but didn't come out for basketball until this fall.
David Birkeland scored 19 points for Concordia, which was playing its first basketball game in 350 days since its last season ended February 22, 2020.
The Cobbers tied the game at 21-21 with 9:00 left in the first half before St. Thomas used a 26-10 run to storm into halftime ahead 47-31. Concordia was still within a 61-49 score with 10 minutes to play but the Tommies answered tp push the lead past 25.
St. Thomas plays Monday night at Bethel, then plays its first home game in nearly 50 weeks on Wednesday night when it faces Hamline in conference action.
