On a frigid night in Fargo, Men’s Basketball goes cold from the floor

Fargo, N.D. – The St. Thomas Men's Basketball (8-11, 2-5) struggled shooting the ball in a 77-56 loss to North Dakota State (13-7, 5-3) on a cold night in Fargo.

Despite career-highs from junior F Brooks Allen (18) and sophomore G Dom Martinelli (10), the Tommies couldn't overcome a 33 percent shooting effort from the field against the Bison's strong shooting night in which they shot 56 percent from the field.

Through the first eight minutes of the game, St. Thomas opened up a 7-4 lead with three different Tommies contributing points. The Purple forced 7 Bison turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game.

With 8:25 to play in the first half, the Tommies held a 14-9 run before the Bison went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes of game play to open their first lead of the game, 18-14 with 6:11 to play.

The Bison's hot shooting continued for the duration of the first half, taking a 33-21 lead into intermission. To overcome 10 first-half turnovers, NDSU connected on 52 percent (11-of-21) of its shots from the field and 58 percent (7-of-12) from behind the arc.

St. Thomas connected on 26 percent (8-of-31) of its shots from the field and 20 percent (3-of-15) from behind the arc in the game's first 20 minutes. The Tommies hauled in 14 rebounds and committed five first-half turnovers.

Individually, Allen tallied a team-high nine first-half points and a team-best five rebounds. Senior G Riley Miller contributed six points in the opening 20 minutes.

The Bison opened the second half on a 9-2 run to open a 42-23 lead with 15:59 to play and didn't look back from there. NDSU outscored St. Thomas 44-35 in the second half to claim the 77-56 win.

As a team, St. Thomas connected on 33 percent (21-of-63) from the field, 27 percent (7-of-26) from behind the arc and hauled in 28 rebounds with 10 turnovers. NDSU connected on 56 percent (27-of-48) of its shots from the field and 50 percent (11-of-22) from behind the arc and turned the ball over 15 times.

Allen finished the game with a career-high 18 points on an 8-of-12 shooting performance from the field, Martinelli scored 10 points in the game, matching his career-best.

The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team returns to action on Saturday as they travel to Macomb, Ill., to face Western Illinois.

On a frigid night in Fargo, Men’s Basketball goes cold from the floor

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Team Stats

Brooks Allen

Dom Martinelli

Ben Nau

Parker Bjorklund

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Dom Martinelli

Riley Miller

University of St. Thomas Athletics