Anthony's season high 32 points not enough in loss to North Dakota

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Three-point shooting woes hindered the Tommies on Saturday evening as St. Thomas men's basketball suffered a 74-64 loss against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. St. Thomas moves to 14-8 on the season and 4-3 in conference play.

Despite the defeat, graduate student Raheem Anthony recorded a season-high 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. He also recorded a team high eight rebounds in addition to two steals and a block in an all-around performance. Anthony continued the Tommie 30-point streak as he followed up fellow graduate student Parker Bjorklund's 32-point performance in the previous game against North Dakota State.

St. Thomas shot 43.1 percent overall (22-51) and 23.5 percent from 3-point range (4-17) while going 16-of-19 from the free throw line. North Dakota shot 48.4 percent (30-62) from the field and 36 percent (9-25) from beyond the arc while winning the rebound margin 37-26 over the Tommies. After trailing 38-27 at halftime, the Purple outscored the Fighting Hawks 37-36 in the second half.

RECAP
Anthony's scoring began early as he answered first in the scoring column for the Tommies, scoring their only basket in the first six minutes of action. Sophomore Ahjany Lee ended the scoring drought for the Purple, and back-to-back baskets from junior Ryan Dufault gave the Toms a two-point advantage, 13-11, with 10:45 remaining in the half. St. Thomas and North Dakota traded baskets over the course of the next five minutes with both teams knotted up at 22 points apiece with 5:59 left in the first half.

The Fighting Hawks ended the half on a 9-0 scoring run, their largest of the game, before jumpers by Anthony and Kendall Blue cut the North Dakota lead down to 11, 38-27, to end the first half.

Graduate student Brooks Allen got the scoring started in the second half for the Purple off of an opening possession 3-pointer. Through the first five minutes of the second half both teams traded scoring efforts, with North Dakota leading 44-38 with 14:04 left to play. A 5-0 scoring run by the Fighting Hawks over the next two minutes opened up the lead to 11, before the Tommies went on a 8-0 run with two three-pointers by Anthony, and a fastbreak layup by Dufault to cut the deficit to three with 10:21 remaining.

The Fighting Hawks knocked down seven of their next 10 field goal attempts, opening the lead back to 11, 67-56 with 4:08 remaining. Free throws by Lee, senior Drake Dobbs, and Anthony ended the scoring efforts for the Tommies, as they fell 74-64 against the Fighting Hawks as the final buzzer sounded.

TOP TOMMIES

Graduate student Raheem Anthony recorded a season-high 32 points on 10-of-16 shooting including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. He also recorded a team high eight rebounds in addition to two steals and a block in an all-around performance.
Sophomore Kendall Blue recorded eight points on 2-of-6 shooting, including 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also recorded three rebounds and an assist in the contest.
Junior Ryan Dufault added eight points to the Tommies scoring efforts, shooting an efficient 4-of-6 from the field while grabbing two rebounds and recording three steals.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Johnny Tauer on the biggest factors that led to the defeat Saturday night against UND:
"I give North Dakota a lot of credit, they are a tough veteran team that outplayed us today and earned their victory. I was really impressed with how they played, and I know we will bounce back with the competitive spirit our team brings forward every game.

"Offensively we weren't as crisp as we have been, and some careless turnovers led to easy fastbreak layups and dunks for them which was crucial. They won a lot of the 50/50 balls which wasn't characteristic of our team's effort, and tonight illustrates how balanced the Summit League is, where every game is a battle."

UP NEXT
The Tommies continue Summit League play on the road as they travel to Omaha, Neb. to take on the Omaha Mavericks (10-12, 3-4 Summit League) on Thursday Feb. 1, with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT. St. Thomas is undefeated against the Mavericks winning all four previous matchups, including a 89-83 victory on Feb. 2, 2023 in their last encounter.

FOLLOW ALONG
For more information on St. Thomas Men's Basketball, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieMBBall and on Instagram at @TommieHoops

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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

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Team Stats

Raheem Anthony

Kendall Blue

Ryan Dufault

Brooks Allen

Players Mentioned

Brooks Allen

Raheem Anthony

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Ryan Dufault

Ahjany Lee