Barnstable drops 30 as Tommies beat North Dakota, 88-80

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- Miles Barnstable's consistent scoring ended with his first 30-point game in the Purple and Gray to help lift St. Thomas men's basketball to an 88-80 victory at North Dakota on Saturday afternoon. The Tommies (12-5, 2-0 Summit League) drained another barrage of 3-pointers to secure a perfect Summit League opening weekend, doing so for the third straight season.

Barnstable scored 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 8-of-10 from the free throw line, scoring 15 points in each half, for the program's first 30-point scorer over the past 28 games. Four Tommies scored in double figures, including Nolan Minessale with 13 points, along with a team and career high eight rebounds, Carter Bjerke with 12 and Ben Oosterbaan off the bench with 11, including 3-of-4 shooting from long range.

The Tommies shot above 50 percent in each half for the sixth time this season to end the game at 54.4 percent (31-57). Barnstable and Bjerke each made four 3-pointers along with Oosterbaan's three as the majority of the Purple's 14 team 3-pointers on the day, one shy of tying a season high.

GAME RECAP
Bjerke helped St. Thomas jump out to an 11-0 lead as he knocked down the team's first two shots, both from beyond the arc. Barnstable hit his first 3-pointer followed by a layup from Nolan Minessale to cap the game-opening run. The lead was cut down to two points, 21-19, following a 17-6 run by UND that saw St. Thomas miss 5-of-7 field goals and give away two turnovers.

Ben Oosterbaan scored on a driving layup for his first points that started a 10-0 run to regain control. Following a layup by the Fighting Hawks, the Purple forced two turnovers to help towards an 8-0 run and a first-half-high 18-point lead, 39-21. UND added eight of the game's next 10 points as St. Thomas took a 41-29 lead into halftime.

Minessale came out of the break to score the Tommies' first two baskets but six straight points from the Fighting Hawks drew their deficit to single digits again. Bjerke made his third 3-pointer of the day as St. Thomas held a double digit lead for the majority of the second half.

Oosterbaan capped a 10-2 Purple run with back-to-back 3-pointers to push the team lead to a game high 19, 68-49, with just under 10 minutes to play. Barnstable scored eight of the Tommies' final 10 points starting at the 4:16 mark to hold off a late Fighting Hawks push.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

St. Thomas is now 2-0 to start Summit League play in each of the past three seasons. The Tommies will be in search of its first 3-0 start as it hosts South Dakota State on Wednesday, Jan. 8 in Schoenecker Arena, where St. Thomas has won 10 straight games.
The Tommies have scored at least 87 points in 11 of 12 wins this season and are averaging their most points per game (85.5) since Johnny Tauer took over in 2011.
St. Thomas improved to 12-0 this season when leading at halftime.
The Purple shot 51.9 percent overall and 41.2 percent from long range in the first half and 56.7 percent overall and 53.8 percent on 3-pointers in the second half, marking the sixth time shooting above 50 percent overall and 40 percent from long range in both halves of a game this season.
Miles Barnstable scored 30 points for the first time as a Tommie, which includes his fifth 20-point game of the season. His 30 points surpasses Nolan Minessale's 27 scored at UC Riverside for the team's highest single-game total of the season while it's also the most since Raheem Anthony scored 32 points Jan. 27, 2024 against North Dakota. Barnstable also set season highs with five rebounds and four 3-pointers, and tied a season high eight free throws.
Nolan Minessale totaled 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting for his sixth double-digit scoring game of the season. The true freshman led the team with a career high eight rebounds to go along with two assists and one block.
Carter Bjerke scored 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. It's his sixth career game with at least four 3-pointers and third this season.
Ben Oosterbaan finished with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting overall and 3-of-4 from long range, his most points scored putting up 13 Dec. 2 against Chicago State. The Tommies are now 4-0 when he scores in double figures.

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Johnny Tauer after Saturday's win over UND to move to 2-0 in league play:
"I'm really excited and proud of the way our guys competed on the road again against a really tough, physical team. It was a short turnaround from Thursday night and I think, more than anything, our rebounding and our toughness in the first half really set the tone.

"Offensively, we just shared the ball. 54 (percent) from the field, 47 (percent) from 3, and 75 (percent) from the free throw line. And you look at the individual performance by Miles Barnstable, incredible growth he had even the last two games because UC Riverside was a tough game for him and the way he's taken coaching and played these last two games is really unbelievable. I'm proud of the whole team and that was a special performance by Miles."

UP NEXT
St. Thomas returns to Schoencker Arena in St. Paul for its next three games, first on Wednesday, Jan. 8 with an 8 p.m. tip-off against perennial Summit League power South Dakota State.

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-- St. Thomas Athletics --

Barnstable drops 30 as Tommies beat North Dakota, 88-80

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Team Stats

Miles Barnstable

Nolan Minessale

Carter Bjerke

Ben Oosterbaan

Players Mentioned

Raheem Anthony

Miles Barnstable

Carter Bjerke

Nolan Minessale

Ben Oosterbaan

University of St. Thomas Athletics