Anthony, Bjorklund combine for 40 points in win over Bengals

ST. PAUL, Minn. --- It came down to the final buzzer in the first home game of the 2023-24 season for the University of St. Thomas men's basketball team as the Tommies won off of game-winning free throws from graduate student Parker Bjorklund. The Tommies opened the home slate with a 54-53 win over Idaho State at Schoenecker Arena to move to 1-1 overall this season.

Bjorklund led the team in scoring with 21 points on 9-17 shooting and tallied 12 rebounds, recording his first double-double on the season. Fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony scored 19 points while grabbing 9 rebounds in a near double-double performance during his first career game in Schoenecker Arena. The duo combined for 40 of the team's 54 points and 21 rebounds as the Toms outrebounded the Bengals, 36-30.

Recap
It was clear Friday night's game would come to the wire, as the Tommies and Bengals traded the lead nine times throughout the contest with the Toms getting their final lead of the ballgame with three seconds left off of Bjorklund's free throws. In fact, for the entire first half, neither St. Thomas nor Idaho St. led by more than nine points, as Idaho State got their largest lead of the ball game with 4:27 in the first half. In the first half, the Tommies shot 38 percent from the field while the Bengals made 42 percent of their baskets. The Tommies entered halftime with a 27-26 lead over the Bengals, with Kendall Blue throwing down a monstrous dunk, followed by Anthony snagging a steal and fastbreak dunk to give the Toms the lead with 47 seconds left in the first half.

Idaho State and St. Thomas traded buckets back-and-forth to open the second half with both teams making two field goals apiece in the first four minutes of the half. A 3-pointer by Anthony, the only of the game for the Purple, with 13:21 left fueled the Tommies to their largest lead of the second half of six points, 42-36. The next six minutes, however, told a different story. The Toms didn't record a single field goal made following Anthony's basket, and Idaho State tied the ball game at 44 with 6:14 left to play.

The Tommies and Bengals traded leads for the next four minutes, until the Bengals pulled away with a layup and 1:33 left on the clock to gain a four-point advantage on the Toms. Three free throws later by Blue and Anthony cut the Bengal lead to one point with 13 seconds left to play. An off-ball foul by Idaho State with three seconds left gave Bjorklund the chance to give the Toms the lead, and he capitalized, drilling both free throws to give the Toms the 54-53 lead to seal the win.

Top Tommies

Parker Bjorklund led St. Thomas' scoring efforts Friday evening, tallying 21 points on 9-17 shooting. He also grabbed 12 rebounds, for the first double-double of the season and sixth of his career.
Raheem Anthony added 19 points in the victory thanks to his 7-12 shooting performance, including a 1-3 clip from beyond the arc, and 4-5 shooting from the charity stripe.
Kendall Blue closed the night with seven points, four rebounds, and two assists.

Quoteables
Head Coach Johnny Tauer following Friday's home-opening win against Idaho State

"I'm really proud of our guys tonight, I thought, in front of an electric crowd really building off of last year. Credit to Idaho State. Coach (Ryan) Looney does a tremendous job. They're tough, they're physical, they're smart, and it reminded me a lot of our game with them last year. Just a bit of a slugfest.

"I'm so proud of our guys for two reasons. One, Monday I thought we played great at Cal and we didn't get the outcome we wanted, but I was really proud of them. Tonight, credit to Idaho State, but we didn't play our best certainly on offense, but I thought (we) competed unbelievably well and there's a difference between playing well and competing well. I thought they were tough and together and as much as anything trusted one another."

Up Next
The Tommies will continue its homestand in St. Paul for their next home game against North Central this upcoming Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena.

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Team Stats

Parker Bjorklund

Raheem Anthony

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Players Mentioned

Raheem Anthony

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue