St. Thomas falls in overtime at South Dakota, 74-73

VERMILLION, S.D. -- A string of final second shots came up empty for St. Thomas men's basketball during a 74-73 overtime loss at South Dakota Thursday night in Vermillion, S.D.

Despite shooting 34.3 percent from the floor, the Tommies overcame a nine-point deficit to lead by as many as 10 midway through the second half. The Coyotes shot 48.2 percent overall and sank eight 3-pointers compared to nine for the Tommies.

Graduate student Parker Bjorklund led St. Thomas with 17 points and seven rebounds while fellow graduate student Raheem Anthony followed with 14 points and added five assists to one turnover. Sophomore Kendall Blue scored 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting while senior Drake Dobbs tacked on 11 points.

RECAP
The Coyotes started hot from the field shooting 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-6 from long range, while the Tommies put in 4-of-11 during the first eight minutes of action. The Purple put in three 3-pointers, but gave away two of its six total turnovers to trail, 22-13.

St. Thomas followed with a 9-0 run over the next 2:44 behind scoring from four Tommies to tie the game. The Purple took their first lead on free throws from sophomore Ahjany Lee and closed the first half on a 7-2 run to take a 39-33 lead into the halftime break.

The Tommie lead hovered around four until Blue knocked down a 3-pointer as part of a 6-0 run for a game-high 10-point, 59-49 lead just under the 10-minute mark. USD ended the game on a 19-9 run and forced overtime as a final second layup from St. Thomas was off mark.

Both teams put in one free throw each to start the extra period. Dobbs converted an and-one opportunity to help the Tommies to a 5-1 run to open overtime. USD followed with a 5-0 run of its own, taking advantage of one St. Thomas turnover to set up Tommie possession with 31 seconds to play. The Purple put up four shots over the final 14 seconds, behind three offensive rebounds, but couldn't convert.

TOP TOMMIES

Parker Bjorklund led the Tommies with 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting, including two 3-pointers and 5-of-6 from the free throw line, and led with seven rebounds. Thursday was the eighth game this season Bjorklund has led the team in scoring.
Raheem Anthony totaled 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting overall and 5-of-8 from the free throw line. He added six rebounds, his eighth game this season with at least six, and paced the team with five assists, his second most in a game this season.
Kendall Blue finished with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, 2-of-6 from long range and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. He continued his streak of double-digit scoring games to seven. Blue has also recorded at least 10 points and five rebounds, finishing with five on Thursday, for the fourth time during that stretch.
Drake Dobbs scored 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting and 2-of-6 from 3-point range. It is his 11th double-digit scoring game this season and fifth over the last six games overall.

QUOTEABLES
Head Coach Johnny Tauer following Thursday's overtime loss at South Dakota:
"Really tough loss on the road. Give South Dakota credit, they play a physical style of basketball. They have a good identity. We didn't shoot it well, 9-for-36 on 3s. After we were down nine in the first half, we had a really good 25-minute stretch, got it up to 10 and had a great look for 3 that probably gets us into that stretch where it's possession basketball. Give (South Dakota) credit. They made free throws and got the ball inside to their post and suddenly it became a close game.

"I love the shot we had at the end of regulation. We had three shots at the end of overtime, but at the end of the day…it's a 40-minute game and we had two stretches, the first five minutes of the game and the 10-, 5-minute mark where we were not good enough and that cost us."

UP NEXT
St. Thomas takes its first bye on Saturday, Jan. 20 before returning to action with two home games Jan. 25 against North Dakota State and Jan. 27 against North Dakota.

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Team Stats

Parker Bjorklund

Raheem Anthony

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Players Mentioned

Raheem Anthony

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Ahjany Lee