Tommies roll with 100-54 win over North Central Sunday

ST. PAUL, Minn. --- From the tip it was clear St. Thomas came ready to play on Sunday evening as the Tommies took down the North Central Rams 100-54 moving to 2-1 overall on the season.

St. Thomas extended the all-time series to 3-0 against North Central following the victory, with the Toms winning all three games in St. Paul by an average margin of 48 points.

It was a well-balanced effort today from St. Thomas as four Toms scored in double figures. Redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke led the way in scoring, tallying 14 points on 4-9 shooting and 4-8 from beyond the arc while recording four rebounds. Sophomore Kendall Blue recorded 13 points along with two rebounds, and senior Dom Martinelli scored 12 points along with five rebounds in the winning effort. The team combined for 12 3-pointers, finishing 12-of-31 from beyond the arc, while shooting 55 percent from the floor. The Toms outshot the Rams from the free throw line, going 16-of-24 from the charity stripe compared to 6-of-14 for the Rams, while St. Thomas also won the rebound margin, 46-30.

Recap
St. Thomas jumped out of the gate Sunday evening shooting lights out from the field early making six of their first eight shots to guide the Toms to an early 16-6 lead five minutes into the ball game. With 10:54 to play in the first half the Tommies went on a 9-0 run credited to baskets by Raheem Anthony, Parker Bjorklund, and Drake Dobbs, giving St. Thomas a 31-10 lead with 9:21 in the first half. A 3-pointer by Anthony, a jump shot from Blue, followed by a Brooks Allen basket, and the Toms found themselves with a 47-19 advantage with 1:16 left in the first half. St. Thomas ended the first half up 54-22 lead over the Rams, shooting a red hot 70 percent from the field in the first half, 19-of-27, and 50 percent from beyond the arc, 5-of-10.

It was all Toms again in the second half as they started off on their biggest scoring run of the game, 13-0, attributed to a Dobbs jumper, Blue's third 3-pointer of the game, Allen sinking one from beyond the arc, and capped off by sophomore Ahjany Lee recording a layup and free throw from the line with 14:30 remaining. Dom Martinelli and Carter Bjerke traded buckets over the next five minutes as they accounted for all of the Toms' points during the span with Bjerke recording eight points and Martinelli tallying three points, respectively.

Bjerke and Martinelli again bounced off each other's hot streak with 4:24 left in the half with the pair recording eight straight points for the Tommies. A layup from senior Bennett Kwiecinski and a basket from Martinelli ended the scoring for St. Thomas, sealing a 100-54 victory over the North Central Rams.

The last time the Tommies scored 100 points in a game was against the Rams last season, winning 111-63 on Nov. 29, 2022.

Top Tommies

Carter Bjerke led St. Thomas' scoring efforts Sunday evening, recording a career-high 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-8 makes from beyond the arc. He also grabbed four rebounds in 20 minutes of play.
Dom Martinelli added 12 points in the victory thanks to his 5-of-7 shooting performance while also tallying five rebounds. Two of his three double-digit scoring games over the past two seasons have come against North Central.
Kendall Blue closed the night with 13 points, two rebounds, and two steals.
The starting lineup of Anthony, Allen, Bjorklund, Blue, and Dobbs combined to shoot 18-of-24 from the field and 7-of-13 from 3-point range.

Quoteables from Head Coach Johnny Tauer following Sunday evening's win against North Central

"Pleased to get a victory today. I thought our guys shared the ball really well. Twenty-three assists and eight turnovers. Came out and I thought we were crisp and efficient on offense. I thought we were pressured full court on defense and that cranked the tempo up.

"Lots to learn from a game like this. Certainly, we can be a little bit cleaner on certain things defensively, but overall, was pleased. We got a lot of guys a lot of minutes. Balanced scoring. Nice to see Carter Bjerke and Dom Martinelli off the bench with double figures. All around appreciate everyone coming out today on a Sunday afternoon and glad to get a victory."

Up Next
The Tommies will hit the road and travel to Riverside, Cal., for The Lancer Joust next weekend, taking on three opponents in a three-day span: Cal Poly, California Baptist, and Portland State. Coming up first for the Toms is Cal Poly Friday, Nov. 17 with tipoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center.

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Team Stats

Carter Bjerke

Kendall Blue

Raheem Anthony

Dom Martinelli

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Raheem Anthony

Carter Bjerke

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Bennett Kwiecinski

Ahjany Lee

Dom Martinelli