University of St. Thomas Athletics
Monday, March 6
Sioux Falls, S.D. / Denny Sanford PREMIER Center
6:00 p.m. Central
19-14,9-9Summit League
65
vs
70
Oral Roberts
29-4,18-0Summit League
1
2
F
St. Thomas (MN)
33
32
65
Oral Roberts
32
38
70
Team Stats
UST
ORU
FG%
.333
.414
3FG%
.286
.240
FT%
.833
.727
RB
44
44
TO
9
12
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Collin Boyles
Men's Hoops brings effort and energy, but comes up short vs. ORU
3/6/2023 8:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Sioux Falls, S.D. -- Tommie Men's Basketball never backed down and never gave up here Monday night, but cold shooting spells denied them in their upset bid in a 70-65 loss to Oral Roberts in the semifinal round of the Summit League tournament.
The Golden Eagles (29-4) trailed at the half for just the ninth time this season. But they used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to help push their win streak to 16 and advance to Tuesday night's playoff championship game.
St. Thomas played ORU even on the boards at 44-44, had only nine turnovers, and posted a 30-18 edge in 3-point scoring. But the Purple shot just 29 percent from the floor in the second half and 33 percent on the night. That total included numerous open shots that rolled in and around the rim and popped out.
Three Tommies combined to score 55 of their 65 points. Freshman guard Andrew Rohde scored 23 points, senior Brooks Allen added 17 points and seven boards, and senior Parker Bjorklund added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"I'm so proud of our guys," Coach Johnny Tauer said. "I told them they played like champions."
In improving to 20-0 this winter against Summit League opponents, Oral Roberts outscored the Toms 14-3 at the foul line in the second half, getting 18 attempts to the Toms' four.
Conference Player of the Year Max Abmas scored 23 points on the night, including 8-of-8 at the line, to go with four assists. The Eagles' 7-foot-5 senior center Connor Vanover finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.
St. Thomas (19-14) ended its 2022-23 season the same way it started, going toe-to-toe as a heavy underdog. Coach Johnny Tauer's team played even with Creighton in the Nov. 7 season opener in Omaha before a late run let the Bluejays take a 72-60 win.
Monday, the Toms broke to a 29-21 lead and took a 33-32 advantage into halftime. St. Thomas later built a 43-38 lead with 13:37 remaining, but Oral Roberts stormed back with an 11-0 run over the next 3:32 to lead 49-43, and ORU never trailed again.
The Purple kept battling and pulled within 60-57 with 1:44 left on Bjorklund's 3-point basket. But ORU made a driving runner in the lane late in the shot clock, then capped off the victory by making all six free-throw tries in the final 40 seconds.
Did You Know?
Rohde scored 120 points over his last five games (24 ppg) and finished as the first freshman in St. Thomas program history to surpass 500 points.
St. Thomas improved nine victories from last season's 10-20 mark in its debut Division I season.
The Purple went 0-5 this season against 20-win teams Oral Roberts, Creighton and Montana State, but also beat 20-win teams Troy and UW-Milwaukee, and split with a 19-win South Dakota State team. The Purple also lost to 17-win Power 5 team Utah.
Bjorklund scored in double figures in each of his last 10 games this season. He scored 695 points so far in the D-I era.
--
Click HERE to access Coach Johnny Tauer's postgame press conference
--
The Golden Eagles (29-4) trailed at the half for just the ninth time this season. But they used an 11-0 run midway through the second half to help push their win streak to 16 and advance to Tuesday night's playoff championship game.
St. Thomas played ORU even on the boards at 44-44, had only nine turnovers, and posted a 30-18 edge in 3-point scoring. But the Purple shot just 29 percent from the floor in the second half and 33 percent on the night. That total included numerous open shots that rolled in and around the rim and popped out.
Three Tommies combined to score 55 of their 65 points. Freshman guard Andrew Rohde scored 23 points, senior Brooks Allen added 17 points and seven boards, and senior Parker Bjorklund added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
"I'm so proud of our guys," Coach Johnny Tauer said. "I told them they played like champions."
In improving to 20-0 this winter against Summit League opponents, Oral Roberts outscored the Toms 14-3 at the foul line in the second half, getting 18 attempts to the Toms' four.
Conference Player of the Year Max Abmas scored 23 points on the night, including 8-of-8 at the line, to go with four assists. The Eagles' 7-foot-5 senior center Connor Vanover finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots.
St. Thomas (19-14) ended its 2022-23 season the same way it started, going toe-to-toe as a heavy underdog. Coach Johnny Tauer's team played even with Creighton in the Nov. 7 season opener in Omaha before a late run let the Bluejays take a 72-60 win.
Monday, the Toms broke to a 29-21 lead and took a 33-32 advantage into halftime. St. Thomas later built a 43-38 lead with 13:37 remaining, but Oral Roberts stormed back with an 11-0 run over the next 3:32 to lead 49-43, and ORU never trailed again.
The Purple kept battling and pulled within 60-57 with 1:44 left on Bjorklund's 3-point basket. But ORU made a driving runner in the lane late in the shot clock, then capped off the victory by making all six free-throw tries in the final 40 seconds.
Did You Know?
Rohde scored 120 points over his last five games (24 ppg) and finished as the first freshman in St. Thomas program history to surpass 500 points.
St. Thomas improved nine victories from last season's 10-20 mark in its debut Division I season.
The Purple went 0-5 this season against 20-win teams Oral Roberts, Creighton and Montana State, but also beat 20-win teams Troy and UW-Milwaukee, and split with a 19-win South Dakota State team. The Purple also lost to 17-win Power 5 team Utah.
Bjorklund scored in double figures in each of his last 10 games this season. He scored 695 points so far in the D-I era.
--
Click HERE to access Coach Johnny Tauer's postgame press conference
--
Tommie Men's Basketball: Summit League Tournament Cinematic Recap 2025
Thursday, March 20
Press Conference: Tommie Men's Basketball Postgame vs Kansas City 03-01-25
Sunday, March 02
Press Conference: Tommie Men's Basketball Postgame vs Omaha 02/15/25
Sunday, February 16
Tommie Men's Basketball vs NDSU: Cinematic Recap
Wednesday, February 05
