Men’s Basketball can’t overcome impressive shooting effort from South Dakota in a tightly contested loss

Vermillion, S.D. – Despite trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, the Tommies had a one-point lead with four minutes to play, but ultimately couldn't overcome South Dakota's strong night from behind the arc in a 92-84 loss.

The Coyotes connected on 14-of-20 (70 percent) of their shots from deep, a 29-of-53 (55 percent) from the field and out-rebounded the Tommies 37-29. St. Thomas played an efficient game only committing five turnovers and made 15 shots from the charity stripe.

The Tommies opened the game in a shooting slump, misfiring on their first six attempts from behind the arc, while the Yotes made their first six three-pointers, racing out to a 26-8 South Dakota lead 10 minutes into the game.

Senior Brooks Allen broke the shooting slump with a made three-point shot which fueled a 13-2 run for the Purple over the next three-and-a-half minutes, cutting the USD lead to 28-21 with 6:34 to play in the first half.

The Tommies, who trailed by as many as 18 in the first half, were able to cut the Yotes lead to seven points, 42-35 at halftime, despite USD connecting on three times as many threes (9-of-12) than St. Thomas (3-of-12).

St. Thomas was buoyed by a strong showing at the charity stripe, connecting on 10-of-12 shots from the line compared to 1-of-2 attempts from USD. The Yotes connected on 64 percent (16-of-25) of their shots from the field compared to a 35.5 (11-of-31) from the Tommies. The Yotes also out-rebounded the Purple 16-14 in the first 20 minutes of the game.

Individually, freshman Andrew Rohde dropped in 15 points to pace St. Thomas in the first half.

The Tommies cut the Coyotes lead to as few as four points, 49-45, with 15:45 to play in the game. USD then embarked on an 11-2 run to open a 13-point, 60-47 lead with 13:11 remaining in the game.

An old-fashioned three-point-play by grad student Parker Bjorklund and a three-pointer by freshman Kendall Blue cut the lead to three points, 62-59 with 8:29 remaining.

After scoring the first bucket of the game for a 2-0 lead, St. Thomas regained its second lead of the game, 71-70, with four minutes to play with a steal from sophomore Ryan Dufault and bucket by Allen. The Coyotes outscored the Tommies 22-15 over the final four minutes to earn the 92-84 victory.

Rohde matched a career-high 22 points and was one-of-four Tommies to net double-digit points. Allen and Bjorklund each contributed 17 points while Blue chipped in 10 points.

As a team, St. Thomas shot 45 percent (30-of-67) from the field, 33 percent (9-of-27) from behind the arc, connected on 15-of-21 free throw attempts and posted only five turnovers.

The Tommies return to action as they travel to Brookings, S.D. to face South Dakota State in a New Year's Eve matinee game slated for 2 p.m. CT.

Men’s Basketball can’t overcome impressive shooting effort from South Dakota in a tightly contested loss

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Team Stats

Andrew Rohde

Parker Bjorklund

Brooks Allen

Kendall Blue

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Ryan Dufault

Andrew Rohde

University of St. Thomas Athletics