University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, November 17
Riverside, Calif. / Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center
6:30 p.m. Central
2-2,0-0Summit League
60
vs
61
Cal Poly
2-2,0-0Big West
1
2
F
Cal Poly
31
30
61
St. Thomas (MN)
22
38
60
Team Stats
CPO
UST
FG%
.460
.500
3FG%
.385
.400
FT%
.909
.706
RB
28
25
TO
8
10
STL
5
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Justine Willard
Last-second shot falls wrong way in 61-60 loss Friday night
11/17/2023 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Parker Bjorklund scored 22 points to lead all scorers
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- For the second time over the past three games, St. Thomas men's basketball came down to the final seconds during a 61-60 loss to Cal Poly to open The Lancer Joust in Riverside, Calif. The Purple missed a last-second jumper and fall to 2-2 overall.
St. Thomas was led by the graduate students Parker Bjorklund and Raheem Anthony, with Bjorklund recording 22 points off 9-of-14 shooting with three rebounds, and Anthony scoring 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting while grabbing two rebounds. Sophomore Kendall Blue delivered an all-around performance as he scored 11 points, while recording four rebounds, two assists, and a steal. The Tommie trio combined for 46 of the teams 60 points and nine of the 25 total rebounds on the night.
St. Thomas combined to shoot 22-of-44 from the floor, and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc, as the Toms outshot the Mustangs from the field, 50 to 46 percent. The Tommies lost the rebound battle 28-25 and shot only 78 percent (12-17) from the charity stripe compared to Cal Poly's 91 percent (10-11). Despite the loss, the Tommies started off the second half going 11 minutes straight before missing their first field goal attempt, going 9-for-9 from the field.
Recap
The Cal Poly Mustangs jumped from the opening tip, starting off the game with a 14-5 run over the Tommies over eight minutes in. St. Thomas shot 2-of-8 from the field to start the game, a layup from senior Drake Dobbs and a 3-pointer by Bjorklund, before missing three straight field goals and giving away two turnovers.
Bjorklund got the Toms back in the scoring column off his patented turnaround hook shot followed by a fastbreak layup from Anthony to cut the Tommies deficit to four points, 14-10, with 10:04 to play. Two Cal Poly three-pointers, followed by a couple Tommie turnovers and the Mustangs led 20-12 at the under eight mark.
St. Thomas ended the half on a five-minute scoring drought and found themselves down 31-22 going into the halftime break, shooting 8-of-22 from the field, 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 5-of-8 from the charity stripe. Bjorklund recorded 9 of the Tommies 22 total points of the half shooting 4-of-6 and making 1-of-2 three-point attempts.
The Tommies started off the second half red hot, making their first four field goal attempts of the half in the first four minutes of play. Bjorklund picked up right where he left off scoring the first four points for St. Thomas. A layup by Dobbs, a 3-pointer by Anthony, and a follow up three by Dobbs cut the Mustangs lead down to three, 37-34, with 16:03 left to play.
Three free throws by Anthony, a 3-pointer by Bjorklund, and a classic and-one converted by Blue gave the Toms a 6-0 run and their first lead since the opening basket of the game over the Mustangs, 43-40. The Tommies didn't miss a single field goal attempt until 11 minutes into the second half going 9-of-9 from the field to start, extending their lead to five with 8:45 left.
The Mustangs stormed back and tied the game at 58-58 with 2:03 left in the game. A layup made by Raheem Anthony with 1:33 gave the Tommies a two-point advantage, however, a free throw and layup made by Cal Poly with 11 seconds left gave the Mustangs a 61-60 lead. A missed jumper by St. Thomas on the final possession of the game sounded the buzzer and the Toms suffered a defeat of 61-60 to Cal Poly to open The Lancer Joust tournament weekend.
Top Tommies
St. Thomas was led by the graduate students Parker Bjorklund and Raheem Anthony, with Bjorklund recording 22 points off 9-of-14 shooting with three rebounds, and Anthony scoring 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting while grabbing two rebounds. Sophomore Kendall Blue delivered an all-around performance as he scored 11 points, while recording four rebounds, two assists, and a steal. The Tommie trio combined for 46 of the teams 60 points and nine of the 25 total rebounds on the night.
St. Thomas combined to shoot 22-of-44 from the floor, and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc, as the Toms outshot the Mustangs from the field, 50 to 46 percent. The Tommies lost the rebound battle 28-25 and shot only 78 percent (12-17) from the charity stripe compared to Cal Poly's 91 percent (10-11). Despite the loss, the Tommies started off the second half going 11 minutes straight before missing their first field goal attempt, going 9-for-9 from the field.
Recap
The Cal Poly Mustangs jumped from the opening tip, starting off the game with a 14-5 run over the Tommies over eight minutes in. St. Thomas shot 2-of-8 from the field to start the game, a layup from senior Drake Dobbs and a 3-pointer by Bjorklund, before missing three straight field goals and giving away two turnovers.
Bjorklund got the Toms back in the scoring column off his patented turnaround hook shot followed by a fastbreak layup from Anthony to cut the Tommies deficit to four points, 14-10, with 10:04 to play. Two Cal Poly three-pointers, followed by a couple Tommie turnovers and the Mustangs led 20-12 at the under eight mark.
St. Thomas ended the half on a five-minute scoring drought and found themselves down 31-22 going into the halftime break, shooting 8-of-22 from the field, 1-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 5-of-8 from the charity stripe. Bjorklund recorded 9 of the Tommies 22 total points of the half shooting 4-of-6 and making 1-of-2 three-point attempts.
The Tommies started off the second half red hot, making their first four field goal attempts of the half in the first four minutes of play. Bjorklund picked up right where he left off scoring the first four points for St. Thomas. A layup by Dobbs, a 3-pointer by Anthony, and a follow up three by Dobbs cut the Mustangs lead down to three, 37-34, with 16:03 left to play.
Three free throws by Anthony, a 3-pointer by Bjorklund, and a classic and-one converted by Blue gave the Toms a 6-0 run and their first lead since the opening basket of the game over the Mustangs, 43-40. The Tommies didn't miss a single field goal attempt until 11 minutes into the second half going 9-of-9 from the field to start, extending their lead to five with 8:45 left.
The Mustangs stormed back and tied the game at 58-58 with 2:03 left in the game. A layup made by Raheem Anthony with 1:33 gave the Tommies a two-point advantage, however, a free throw and layup made by Cal Poly with 11 seconds left gave the Mustangs a 61-60 lead. A missed jumper by St. Thomas on the final possession of the game sounded the buzzer and the Toms suffered a defeat of 61-60 to Cal Poly to open The Lancer Joust tournament weekend.
Top Tommies
- Parker Bjorklund led St. Thomas' scoring efforts Friday evening, recording 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-3 makes from beyond the arc. He also grabbed three rebounds in 33 minutes of play. Bjorklund has topped 20 points in two of four games this season and 11 times through his career.
- Raheem Anthony added 13 points in the contest thanks to his 4-of-7 shooting performance while also tallying two rebounds. He has shot at least 57.1 percent from the floor, is averaging 14.7 points per game, and has made a 3-pointer over the past three games.
- Kendall Blue closed the night with an all-around showing of 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal. He has back-to-back double-digit scoring games and is shooting 66.7 percent over his last three games.
- The trio of Bjorklund, Anthony, and Blue combined for 46 of the 60 points for the Tommies on a combined 17-of-27 shooting performance, while also grabbing nine of the teams 25 rebounds.
Up Next
The Tommies will continue play in The Lancer Joust tournament tomorrow against the hosts California Baptist with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center.
Following that game, St. Thomas will take on Portland State the next day, Sunday Nov. 19 at 4:30 p.m. CT, in its final contest of the tournament.
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For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops.
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