Tommies lead wire-to-wire for Division I era best sixth straight win

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A strong first half defensive effort set up St. Thomas to lead wire-to-wire Saturday afternoon during a 93-68 win at Bowling Green. The Tommies (10-4) held the Falcons (4-7) to 37.3 percent shooting overall to extend its winning streak to a Division-I-era-best six games.

The Tommies went into halftime with a 46-20 lead after holding the Falcons to 25.8 percent shooting over the first half, the third lowest half by a St. Thomas opponent in a half this season. The Purple drained nearly half their shots over the first 20 minutes while Miles Barnstable finished the game with a team best 23 points, tying a season high, including 14 in the second half.

Four Tommies reached double figure scoring while Carter Bjerke came off the bench to finish with 15 points, including 12 in the first half. Drake Dobbs totaled five assists with one turnover to keep his assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.5 this season, which is tied for 20th nationally.

GAME RECAP
Scores from Kendall Blue, Miles Barnstable and Nolan Minessale put St. Thomas ahead 7-2 to start the game, half of six Tommies to score over the first nine minutes. Bjerke scored the first of his 12 first half points on a 3-pointer followed by a layup from Dobbs to go ahead 20-10 at the 11:03 mark.

The Tommies held the Falcons to 3-of-12 shooting over the final 10 minutes of the half, including 0-of-4 from long range, with five turnovers on three steals. Bjerke and Dobbs combined for 17 points during a 26-8 run to lead 46-20 at halftime.

After leading by as many as 28 in the first half, the Tommies made 8 of their first 13 field goal attempts to extend the lead to a game high 21 points, 76-45, with 6:50 in the game. Barnstable scored 11 points during that stretch and later added his third and final 3-pointer to tie a season high 23 points. After shooting 48.6 percent as a team in the first half, St. Thomas improved to 56.0 percent on 14-of-25 overall, including 6-of-14 from 3-point range.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

St. Thomas' six straight wins, dating back to Dec. 2 with a 98-76 win over Chicago State, ties for the program's best since joining Division I. The Tommies also had a six-game winning streak last season which included two wins over Summit League opponents, two over Big Sky opponents and two against Division III opponents from Dec. 17, 2023 – Jan. 6, 2024.
The Falcons' first half field goal percentage (.258) was the lowest by a Tommie opponent in a half since holding Chicago State to .231 on 6-of-26 overall on Dec. 2, 2024.
The Tommies are now 10-0 this season when leading at halftime and 9-0 when putting up a higher field goal percentage.
St. Thomas has had a half shooting at least 50 percent from the floor in each game of its six-game winning streak.
The Tommies have recorded three "Kill Shots"—scoring runs of at least 10 points—in their last six games, including a 10-0 run against Bowling Green just before the end of the first half.
The Purple have had at least four players with double digit points in five of the last six games.
Miles Barnstable led the Tommies in scoring for the fifth time this season (a team best) with a season high 23 points, matching his total from the Nov. 8 win at Green Bay.
Drake Dobbs tied a career high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from the free throw line, while he added five assists with just one turnover. He previously scored 18 points twice last season, Jan. 11, 2024 against South Dakota State and Feb. 17, 2024 against South Dakota.
Kendall Blue's 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting is his fourth highest scoring output of the season while Carter Bjerke scored his second highest total of the season with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including three 3-pointers.
Ben Oosterbaan led the team in rebounds for the third time this season with eight. Bjerke followed with seven while Blue, Rich Byhre and Ben Nau each totaled five.

UP NEXT
St. Thomas remains on the road for its final non-conference game of the season Dec. 29 at UC Riverside. The Tommies and Highlanders will meet for the first time ever at 4 p.m. in Riverside, Calif.

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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

Tommies lead wire-to-wire for Division I era best sixth straight win

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Team Stats

Miles Barnstable

Drake Dobbs

Kendall Blue

Carter Bjerke

Players Mentioned

Miles Barnstable

Carter Bjerke

Kendall Blue

Rich Byhre

Drake Dobbs

Nolan Minessale

Ben Nau

Ben Oosterbaan

University of St. Thomas Athletics