University of St. Thomas Athletics
Cal Poly
Men’s Basketball off to California for three-game tournament
11/16/2023 8:57:00 AM | Men's Basketball
St. Thomas to play Cal Poly, California Baptist and Portland State in Riverside, Calif.
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- After opening the 2023-24 season in California, Tommie Men's Basketball returns to the Golden State to take part in The Lancer Joust Nov. 17-19, hosted by California Baptist University.
St. Thomas begins the tournament at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday against Cal Poly before playing California Baptist at 7 p.m. CT and Portland State at 4:30 p.m. CT at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center.
Series History
St. Thomas has never played Cal Poly, California Baptist or Portland State.
Tune In
Basketball fans can follow Saturday's game on ESPN+ and Sunday's game on YouTube. Fans can also follow the game on ESPN 1500 radio with Tony Pasquesi or via Live Stats on CBULancers.com.
Last Time Out
The Tommies rolled to a 100-54 win over North Central (Minn.) to close out its home-opening weekend in Schoenecker Arena. The Purple set single-game highs in nearly all major statistical categories including field goals made (36), 3-point field goals made (12, also 11/6/23 at Cal), free throws made (16), rebounds (46), assists (23), steals (12), and blocks (3, also 11/6/23 at Cal). St. Thomas shot over 70 percent from the floor in the first half and saw four players score in double digits. The Tommie starters combined to shoot 75 percent (18-24) from the field and 54.8 percent (7-13) from 3-point range for 49 points.
The Cast
Redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke led the Tommies in scoring with a career-high 14 points, becoming the eighth freshman under Head Coach Johnny Tauer to score at least 14 points during one of their first three career games. Sophomore Kendall Blue scored in double figures for the first time this season with 13 points while graduate student Raheem Anthoyn and senior Dom Martinelli each scored 12.
A Freshman Feat
Redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke scored 14 points Nov. 12 against North Central, setting a career high. In doing so, he became the eighth freshman under Head Coach Johnny Tauer with a 14+ point performance within his first three career games.
2023-24
Carter Bjerke: 14 pts vs. North Central (Minn.) (3rd career game)
2022-23
Kendall Blue: 15 pts vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (3rd career game)
Ahjany Lee: 14 pts vs. Chicago State (2nd career game)
Andrew Rohde: 15 pts vs. Creighton (1st career game)
2020-21
Parker Bjorklund: 15 pts vs. Concordia College (Minn.) (2nd career game)
2019-20
Will Engels: 15 pts vs. Whitman (1st career game)
2018-19
Anders Nelson: 24 pts vs. Emerson (2nd career game)
2017-18
Burt Hedstrom: 15 pts vs. St. Scholastica (3rd career game)
The Opposition | Cal Poly
The Mustangs are 1-2 entering The Lancer Joust after losses of 97-76 against Denver Nov. 9, and 80-66 against Wyoming, with their lone win coming 80-62 against La Verne on Nov. 6.
Graduate Student Jarred Hyder and senior Kobe Sanders lead the team in points each averaging 16.0 or more through three games. Both guards have also gone a combined 23-of-25 from the free throw line. The Mustangs have relied on Hyder and Sanders so far this season after losing their top four point scorers from last season. The duo also leads the team in 3-pointers, defensive rebounds, and minutes played.
As a team the Mustangs are shooting 43.4 percent rom the field (82-189), 29.8percent from three-point range (14-47), and 71 percent from the free-throw line (44-62). Cal Poly pulls down 34.0 rebounds per game compared to their opponents' 39.0 per game.
The Opposition | California Baptist
The Lancers come into the tournament with back-to-back wins while remaining undefeated with their two wins coming at home. Cal Baptist won 74-57 against San Francisco St. Nov.6 and won 80-66 against Jackson St, Nov. 10.
The team is led by sophomore guard Dominique Daniels Jr. who led the Lancers in scoring averaging 23.5 points a game. Daniels Jr. is shooting 48.4% from the field while also shooting 57.9% from deep. Daniels Jr. is accompanied by Cal Poly transfer Brantly Stevenson, who averages 13.5 points a game, and senior forward Hunter Goodrick who is pulling down 12.5 rebounds a game to begin the year. The trio is filling in after the Mustangs lost their top two point scorers from last season in Taran Armstron and Riley Battlin.
The Lancers are shooting 43.8% from the field (49/112), 36.5% from deep (19/52), and 63.8% from the free-throw line (37-58). Cal Baptist is pulling down 41.5 rebounds per game compared to their opponents 31.0.
The Opposition | Portland State
The Vikings are coming in the tournament with three straight wins, having an undefeated 3-0 record. Portland state opened the season with back-to-back road games the first being a 62-55 win against Airforce, Nov. 6 and a 82-76 win against UC Santa Barbara, Nov. 9. The Vikings won their home opener 70-53 against Linfield, Nov 12.
Portland State is led by senior guard Jorell Saterfield who enters the weekend scoring 10.7 points per game with 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Sophomore guard Ismail Habib follows in scoring with 8.7 points per game while junior forward Isaiah Johnson paces the squad with 7.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 52.6 percent from the field.
As a team, the Vikings are averaging 71.3 points per game on 41.5 percent shooting, including 29.9 percent from 3-point range. PSU pulls down 34.7 rebounds per game while allowing 38.3 per game.
Back From 2022-23
St. Thomas returns 10 letter winners and one redshirt freshman (Carter Bjerke, F), along with four newcomers. Among the newcomers is one transfer (Raheem Anthony, G) and three freshmen. Leading the pack is graduate student forward Parker Bjorklund who was named Preseason All-Summit League First Team. Fellow graduate student forward Brooks Allen also returns after starting all 33 games last season and playing in all 64 games for St. Thomas since joining NCAA Division I. Kendall Blue and Ahjany Lee come back for their sophomore seasons after Blue played in all 33 games, with 22 starts, and Lee played in 32 with four starts.
The Makeup of the Tommie Roster
The heart of the St. Thomas men's basketball program is comprised from Minnesota natives, including 10 of 15 student-athletes, Head Coach Johnny Tauer and Assistant Coach Cameron Rundles. Four of the remaining five student-athletes hail from Illinois while one is from Wisconsin.
Lucky 13
Head Coach Johnny Tauer is in his 13th season at St. Thomas as the longest tenured head coach among all Summit League programs and among the top 40 in their current role among all DI men's basketball coaches. Tauer is one win shy of 250 for his career in 334 games leading the Tommies.
During his time, Tauer has compiled a winning percentage of .746, which ranks 13th among all active head coaches with at least 10 years of experience. The only head coaches at their current NCAA DI programs with a higher winning percentage than Tauer are John Calipari (Kentucky), Mark Few (Gonzaga), and Bill Self (Kansas).
Take Care of the Ball
Tauer's teams have historically taken care of the basketball and last season was no different. The Tommies ranked tied for 11th nationally for fewest total turnovers (327) after leading the category in 2021-22. The Purple also tied for 12th for fewest turnovers per game (9.9) and tied for 50th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.30). Of the 14 teams with as few or fewer turnovers per game, only four (Iowa, NC State, Oral Roberts, Toledo) finished with a higher scoring offense than St. Thomas' 74.2 points per game. St. Thomas recorded 10 or fewer turnovers in 21 of 33 games last season and are averaging 10.3 per game through three games in 2023-24.
Power Five
The 2023-24 season opener was the third game for St. Thomas against a Power Five opponent as the previous two came last season. The Tommies opened the 2022-23 season at No. 9 Creighton (Big East) in front of a crowd of 17,098, holding a 57-56 lead against the Blue Jays with 9:58 to play before ultimately falling. The first Pac-12 opponent for St. Thomas came during a loss at Utah on Nov. 26. The Tommies face another preseason top 10, Power Five opponent this season Dec. 14 at No. 4 Marquette (Big East).
Shoes to Fill
The Tommies have scoring production to replace as two of its top three scorers from a season ago are no longer on the roster. Summit League Newcomer of the Year Andrew Rohde and 3-point shooter Riley Miller combined for 915 points. Bjorklund ranked second for St. Thomas with 393 points, averaging 15.5 points per game, and led the team in scoring during nine of the last 20 games, as the Tommies went 6-3 in those games. Allen and Blue followed Miller in scoring, as Allen scored 8.8 points per game and Blue added 7.4.
All Business for Bjorklund
Since joining the Tommies off the intramural courts, it's been all business for Parker Bjorklund as he's averaged double-digit scoring in each of his three seasons. He put in 12.6 points per game during the program's first DI season in 2021-22 on 54.4 percent shooting from the field. Bjorklund is averaging 13.9 points per game through his career on 53.2 percent shooting, the only Tommie with a career field goal percentage above .500 (minimum 250 FGA). He ranked second in the Summit League last season shooting 49.5 percent from the field and finished 13 games shooting above 50 percent while taking at least seven shots in all games. His 15.1 points per game ranked 10th in the Summit League and he's currently third among active Summit League student-athletes in career scoring average (13.9 PPG).
Success on Both Ends
The Purple were the only Summit League team to rank among the top three in both scoring offense (74.2) and scoring defense (70.2). St. Thomas joined South Dakota State as the only two teams in the league to rank among the top four in both 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense.
Keeping the Division III Pipeline
A newcomer to the team in 2023-24 is graduate student guard Raheem Anthony, a transfer from NCAA DIII Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minn. He was a two-time All-American (NABC, D3hoops.com) in 2022-23 after averaging 24.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and shooting 54.5 percent from the field. Anthony started all 78 games played in at Saint Mary's and averaged 19.3 points during three games against St. Thomas during the 2019-20 season. He's scored a career-high 41 points twice and currently has 1,427 career points.
Home Cooking
The Tommies have embraced playing in front of the hometown crowd, going 15-2 over its last 17 games at Schoenecker Arena. St. Thomas closed out the 2021-22 season with a home win and went 12-2 last season before opening the 2023-24 season with back-to-back wins against Idaho State and North Central (Minn.).
The only two home losses last season came Jan. 28 to South Dakota and Feb. 9 to Oral Roberts. Over the final five home games, St. Thomas averaged an attendance of 1,707 per game, including a record crowd of 2,013 against Oral Roberts.
Prep Championship Pedigree
Five of the Tommies' 15 student-athletes have reached the ultimate pinnacle of their high school prep careers, winning state titles, while COVID brought another imminent title run to a halt. Three others also led their programs to Minnesota State Tournament appearances in Kendall Blue (2018-22) and Courtney Brown, Jr., (2015-19) at East Ridge High School and Adam Tauer (2019-23) at Cretin-Derham Hall.
Carter Bjerke - Wayzata HS - 2020-21 Class AAAA MSHSL State Championship - 2021-22 Runner-Ups
Drake Dobbs - Eden Prairie HS - 2019-20 28-0 and #10 in the nation (COVID shortened season)
Ryan Dufault - Waseca HS - 2020-21 Class AA MSHSL State Championship - Hit game-winning shot with three seconds remaining
Ben Nau - Brookfield Central HS - 2018-19 WIAA Division I State Championship
Hayden Tibbits - Wayzata HS - 2020-21 and 2022-23 Class AAAA MSHSL State Championship - 2021-22 Runner-Ups
Ahjany Lee - Totino-Grace HS - 2021-22 Class AAA MSHSL State Championship
National Signing Day | Going Out of State
The Toms welcomed four signees this week as part of National Signing Day. Committing to join St. Thomas in 2024 are Kyle Counts (F, 6-7, Wilsonville, Ore./Wilsonville HS), Tim Franks (G, 6-5, Mequon, Wis./Homestead HS), Ryan Lafferty (G, 6-5, Spokane, Wash./Mt. Spokane HS), and Nolan Minessale (G, 6-5, Brookfield, Wis./Marquette University HS).
"We are thrilled to receive commitments from four outstanding seniors, two from Wisconsin and two from the Pacific Northwest," Head Coach Johnny Tauer said. "These four young men come from outstanding families, excel in the classroom and on the court, and are high character individuals who fit the fabric of our program exceptionally well. They will continue to build a strong foundation of Tommie Basketball that is predicated on unselfish, skilled, smart, and tough players who are committed to being the best they can be on and off the court."
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops
Join Us
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-- St. Thomas Athletics --
