Anthony eclipses 1,500 career points to lift Tommies to 75-71 win

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Graduate student Raheem Anthony helped keep St. Thomas men's basketball undefeated at home as he topped 1,500 career points during a 75-71 win over Milwaukee on Wednesday night. The Tommies built a 38-22 lead at halftime and halted a Panther comeback as the Purple improve to 5-4 overall on the season.

Anthony led all scorers with 23 points, a season high, on 7-of-9 shooting with six rebounds and two assists. Anthony's 1,500th career point came on a free throw late in the first half, the first of nine straight points from him to help the Toms to a game-high 20-point lead.

Parker Bjorklund tallied 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four rebounds, one steal and one block. The Tommie starters combined for 67 of the teams 75 points, shooting 21-of-44 from the field (47.7%), recording 23 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks, and six steals in the victory.

St. Thomas shot 40.7 percent from the floor (22-54) and 80 percent from the free throw line (24-30) while holding a lead over the Panthers for essentially all 40 minutes of play. The Tommies won the rebound battle 35-34 and recorded 11 points off of the Panthers' 11 turnovers.

Recap
The Tommies captured the lead from the get-go, storming out to a 6-1 lead in the first three minutes of the ball game due to a Anthony layup, a Brooks Allen jump shot, and a dunk by Bjorklund. The Tommies and Panthers traded baskets over the next seven minutes, until a 12-4 run from the Toms opened up the ball game, with St. Thomas leading 25-8 with 7:46 remaining in the first half. Raheem Anthony took over the rest of the half, scoring 10 of the Tommies' 12 points in the final seven minutes of play, giving the Toms a 38-22 lead heading into the halftime break.

Both teams came out of the half ready to score with both the Panthers and Toms scoring six points apiece in the first two minutes. Back-to-back jumpers from sophomore Kendall Blue and Bjorklund followed up by a 3-pointer from senior Drake Dobbs gave the Toms their largest lead of the day of 20 points up 51-31 with 14:26 left on the clock. The Panthers stormed back after the Tommies run, cutting the lead down to 13 with 11:54 remaining.

A 3-pointer from Dobbs at the 7:12 mark gave the Tommies their only bucket in a five-minute stretch as the Panthers battled back with their largest scoring run of seven points to cut the Toms lead down to 67-60 with three minutes left in the contest. A couple baskets by Milwaukee and the game came down to the wire with the Toms holding a four-point lead and 1:39 left on the clock.

Trying to run down the clock, Anthony corralled an offensive rebound with 29 seconds to play which led to a pair of free throws from Dobbs to seal the victory. Blue added two free throws before Anthony scored his final point of the night on a free throw with three seconds to play to keep the undefeated home record alive.

Top Tommies

Graduate senior Raheem Anthony recorded his season high of 23 points, a season high by any Tommie, on 7-of-9 shooting in addition to grabbing a team high six rebounds. He also eclipsed a milestone Wednesday, as he reached the 1,500 career point mark in the victory. He scored 1,408 career points at Saint Mary's University (MN) and now has 109 in his nine games as a Tommie.
Parker Bjorklund tallied 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while recording four rebounds, along with one steal and one block.
The duo of Drake Dobbs and Brooks Allen produced 20 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals as they each recorded 10 points going a combined 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
The Tommie starters combined for 67 of the teams 75 points, shooting 21-of-44 from the field, recording 23 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks, and six steals in the victory.

Quotables
Head Coach Johnny Tauer after the Tommies victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday evening:
"I really liked our guys resilience tonight, we did a great job handling the ball against a really tough and talented defense in Milwaukee, and I thought everyone had great contributions tonight. Thrilled to get a victory and big thanks to the fans as it was another great night in Schoenecker Arena."

"I thought the team did a great job of understanding what we needed to do to win, with our squad getting better and better defensively as the season progresses. The synergy between Tommie offense and defense has been improving as a whole, and I'm proud of the effort the entire squad came out with tonight."

Up Next
The Tommies head right back to the road as they head to Chicago, Illinois for a battle against the Chicago State Cougars at 2:00 P.M. CT at the Credit Union 1 Arena.

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Team Stats

Raheem Anthony

Parker Bjorklund

Brooks Allen

Drake Dobbs

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Raheem Anthony

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs