Tommies make statement in 88-81 win to sweep Big Sky-Summit

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kendall Blue ignited the Schoenecker Arena crowd to start the second half, scoring 10 consecutive points to propel the St. Thomas men's basketball team to an 88-81 victory over Montana on Saturday afternoon. The Tommies improved to 7-4 on the season and remain undefeated in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge at 4-0 since the event's inception last season.

Blue's second-half surge began with two layups, followed by two three-pointers, the second of which put the Tommies ahead 50-44 to energize the 1,213 fans in attendance and force an early Grizzlies timeout. He finished the game with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, along with five assists and no turnovers.

The Tommies' balanced attack featured four players scoring in double figures. Nolan Minessale tied Blue with a career high 22 points, topping his previous high of 18 set during the Big Sky-Summit Challenge opener Dec. 4 at Northern Colorado, going 7-of-9 from the field and 8-of-10 at the free-throw line. Miles Barnstable added 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Drake Dobbs added 14 points with six assists and one turnover.

After trailing for a majority of the first half, Dobbs sank a pull up jumper behind the arc at 2:18 for his lone 3-pointer of the game to give the lead back to the Tommies for the first time since 17:18. Montana quickly took the lead back before five straight free throws gave St. Thomas a 40-39 lead at the halftime break.

The Grizzlies got back into the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers to draw within one, 59-58, but Barnstable threw down another powerful dunk to keep the arena's energy with the Tommies. Montana again answered with a basket before Barnstable scored again on a layup and Minessale put in a floating jumper.

Blue made his second-to-last 3-pointer followed by a second-chance basket by Barnstable and a free throw from Blue for a game-high nine-point lead, 73-64. Following Blue's fifth and final 3-pointer, St. Thomas went on to convert 8-of-8 free throws to seal the game.

St. Thomas capitalized on its opportunities at the free-throw line, going 21-of-25 (84%) while shooting 50 percent from the field and 41 percent from three-point range. Despite the size difference in the post, the Tommies won the battle in the paint, 40-34, and on the boards, 32-29.

The win marked St. Thomas' second Big Sky-Summit Challenge victory of the week after defeating Northern Colorado 87-75 on Wednesday. With this year's 2-0 sweep, the Tommies have emerged as a force in the annual series between the two conferences.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

The only teams to enter Saturday with a 3-0 record in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, going back to last season, included St. Thomas, Montana and Eastern Washington. The Eagles of EWU play at South Dakota State Dec. 7 with a loss making the Tommies the only team between both conferences to go undefeated in the challenge over the past two seasons.
St. Thomas entered the day ranked 99 in the NET Rankings and 130 in the Ken Pom Rankings, compared to 146 NET Ranking and 186 Ken Pom Ranking for Montana.
The Tommies nearly shot 60 percent in the second half, converting 16-of-27 shots for 59.3 percent. St. Thomas shot above 60 percent in both halves on Wednesday against Northern Colorado and have shot above 50 percent from the field during five of six halves over the past three games.
Saturday was the first time St. Thomas has had two scorers with at least 20 points since Parker Bjorklund scored 25 points and Andrew Rohde scored 24 points during the team's 2023 Summit League Championships First Round victory over Western Illinois on March 5, 2023.
The Purple continue to score plenty of points in wins, averaging 93.1 points per win and shooting 54.6 percent overall over its seven wins.
After setting his career high at 14 points to start the season, Nolan Minessale has now set career high scoring in back-to-back games. He scored 18 on 8-of-12 shooting at Northern Colorado before topping it with 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting against Montana, also going 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Minessale has shot at least 60 percent from the field in four of the last five games and is shooting 61.2 percent overall during St. Thomas' seven wins.
Kendall Blue tied a career high with 22 points, previously set Nov. 19, 2023 against Big Sky member Portland State (not during the Big Sky-Summit Challenge). He also tied a career high five assists and set a season high five 3-pointers.
Miles Barnstable has scored 37 points over the past two games after putting up 17 against Montana on 5-of-8 shooting overall and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
Drake Dobbs has had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in all but one game this season and has 10 assists to one turnover over the past three games. His 14 points marks his seventh double digit scoring game of the season while he's shot 66.7 percent overall over the past five games. Dobbs has shot at least 50 percent from the field in 9 of 11 games when attempting at least three field goals.

UP NEXT
St. Thomas remains at home for its next two games, beginning Friday, Dec. 13 against Western Michigan and Dec. 15 against Crown College.

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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

Tommies make statement in 88-81 win to sweep Big Sky-Summit

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Team Stats

Kendall Blue

Nolan Minessale

Miles Barnstable

Drake Dobbs

Players Mentioned

Miles Barnstable

Parker Bjorklund

Kendall Blue

Drake Dobbs

Nolan Minessale

University of St. Thomas Athletics