Men’s Basketball takes a lead into halftime, but can’t overcome strong post play by Oral Roberts

Tulsa, Okla. – The St. Thomas Men's Basketball Team (8-14, 2-8) hung tough with Oral Roberts (16-8, 10-3) through 35 minutes, but ultimately fell by a score of 88-66.

The Tommies raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first 53 seconds of the game with a turn-around jumper by senior F Parker Bjorklund and a three-point bucket by senior G Riley Miller. With 14:31 remaining in the first half, Oral Roberts took its first lead of the game, 13-12. The two teams exchanged blows for the remainder of the first half with neither team leading by more than four points.

In a true half-court game, there was only one fast-break point scored in the first 20 minutes of competition. A team defensive effort by the Purple held Golden Eagle Star and NBA prospect Max Abmas to two first-half points, which came in the final seconds of the first half.

As a team, St. Thomas connected on 50 percent (16-of-32) of its shots from the field and 43 percent (3-of-7) from behind the arc. Efficiency-wise, the Tommies committed four turnovers and dished out four assists. The Purple limited the Golden Eagle shooting efforts to a 36 percent showing from the field and allowed them to connect on only 5-of-20 shots from behind the arc.

Individually, Bjorklund scored 17 first-half points on an 8-of-15 showing from the field and a 1-of-3 effort from the charity stripe. Sophomore G Dom Martinelli had an efficient first half, finishing with seven points on a 3-of-3 shooting effort from the field, including a 1-of-1 showing from deep.

The two teams continued to exchange blows through the first five minutes of the second half with the score tied at 47-47, a huge dunk from Oral Roberts gave the Golden Eagles the lead, 49-47 followed by another lay-up opening a 51-47 lead forcing Head Coach Dr. Johnny Tauer to use a timeout to stop the momentum.

Oral Roberts pushed its lead to as many as 11 points, 70-59 with 6:29 to play. The Tommies simply had not answer for the 6-7, 280lbs. redshirt senior Elijah Lufile, as he caused chaos in the paint for the Purple down the stretch. With 3:39 to play, ORU pushed its lead to 16 points, 82-66 and didn't look back as they went on to earn the 88-66 win.

Individually, Bjorklund led the team in points (25) and rebounds (6), finishing one point shy of his career-high point total. The academic senior finished shooting 12-of-23 from the field. Miller was the only other Tommie to reach double-figures, finishing with 10 points.

As a team, St. Thomas connected on 41 percent (27-of-66) of its shots from the field and 24 percent (6-of-25) from deep. Oral Roberts owned the rebound advantage, 46-32. Each team committed only six turnovers in the game.

The Tommies return to action on Tuesday in the first of three home games in a five-day span beginning with Kansas City.

Men’s Basketball takes a lead into halftime, but can’t overcome strong post play by Oral Roberts

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Team Stats

Parker Bjorklund

Riley Miller

Dom Martinelli

Brooks Allen

Players Mentioned

Parker Bjorklund

Dom Martinelli

Riley Miller

University of St. Thomas Athletics