St. Thomas 3-point barrage hands Portland State first loss, 76-70

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Tommies unloaded a barrage of 3-pointers Sunday night to take down previously undefeated Portland State, 76-70, to wrap up The Lancer Joust. St. Thomas sank 15 3-pointers as a team, including six from sophomore Kendall Blue, to improve to 3-3 on the season.

St. Thomas was led by Blue who shot 6-of-7 from behind the arc and scored 22 total points for a career high from a previous 15-point career high his freshman year against St. Francis Brooklyn. Blue added three rebounds and one steal. Senior Drake Dobbs had 17 points for a career high of his own, shooting 7-of-8 field goals and 3-of-3 behind the arc.

The Tommies shot 51 percent as a team, with 60 percent from 3-pointers, outshooting the Vikings 41 percent field goals and 35 percent from behind the arc. The Tommies were able to outrebound Portland State, 33-29.

RECAP
The Vikings had a strong start to the game with a quick 7-1 score in favor of them. This caused the Tommies to take a quick timeout, and with this, giving them a 12-point run, all from behind the arc, and a six-point lead with points from Blue, graduate student Brooks Allen, graduate student Raheem Anthony and junior Ben Nau. The Toms continued to advance with two 3-pointers by redshirt freshman Carter Bjerke and a jumper in the paint, and a layup by graduate student Parker Bjorkland. The Vikings weren't able to score for over four minutes, giving the Tommies an eight-point lead with just under 10 minutes left in the first half.

After back-and-forth points, Portland State was able to go on a five-point run to close the gap to two, 27-25. The Tommies were able to take back their demanding lead with four 3-pointers, three of which coming from Blue. A layup by Bjorkland in the final minute of the half gave the Tommies a 41-34 lead after 20 minutes of play.

Blue picked up right where he left off with a 3-pointer, 20 seconds into the second half. This was Blue's fifth 3-pointer of the night and gave the Tommies a 10-point lead. Two good shots by the Vikings closed the gap but Dobbs continued the scoring for St. Thomas with a 3-point shot. Blue kept his streak going with another 3-pointer, going 6-of-6 from behind the arc with 16 minutes to go in the game. An eight-point streak by Portland State was shut down from a layup by Dobbs for a 52-48 lead.

Both teams went back-and-forth taking the lead from each other, but four free throws, two each from Blue and sophomore Ahjany Lee gave the Toms a four point lead, 64-60, with just under six minutes left to play. Two free throws by the Vikings gave them a two-point deficit, but layups from Nau, Blue and Dobbs put the Tommies up six. Portland State had nothing they could do but foul, leading to free throws from St. Thomas and the win, 76-70.

TOP TOMMIES

Sophomore Kendall Blue from Woodbury, Minn., led the Tommies with a career high 22 points, going 6-7 in 3-pointers. In 30 minutes of play, he also added three rebounds and two free throws.
Senior Drake Dobbs had 17 points on the night for a career high, going 7-for-8, including 6 behind the arc. He added three assists and one rebound.
Freshman Carter Bjerke had 10 points shooting 2-of-2 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 overall. He added three rebounds and one assist in only 17 minutes of playing time.
Graduate transfer Raheem Anthony had eight points, going 5-of-6 behind the line. He also had six rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal for a well-rounded 25 minutes of game play.

UP NEXT
The Tommies will have a five-day break before returning to the Midwest to play at Green Bay on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. in the Resch Center.

-- St. Thomas Athletics --

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Team Stats

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Carter Bjerke

Ben Nau

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Raheem Anthony

Carter Bjerke

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Ahjany Lee

Ben Nau