Minessale, Johnson-Arigu each top 20 points in 84-72 win at SEMO

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Another set of 20-point performances powered St. Thomas men's basketball to its first road win of the season Saturday as the Tommies defeated Southeast Missouri State, 84-72, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Nolan Minessale put up his fifth straight 20-point game to start the season, finishing with a game-high 24 points, while Isaiah Johnson-Arigu scored a career high 21 points to help the Purple improve to 3-2 on the year.

SCORING SUMMARY:
First Half: St. Thomas set the tone early with a commanding 10-0 run featuring scoring contributions from four different Tommies. The defense matched the urgency, holding Southeast Missouri State without a field goal for nearly three minutes as the Redhawks opened 0-for-5 from the floor. The Tommies later strung together a 9-0 run—fueled by two SEMO turnovers—capped by a layup from Johnson-Arigu and a 3-pointer from Minessale to build a 21-6 advantage.

SEMO countered with seven straight, trimming the deficit to single digits, but St. Thomas rebuilt its lead to as many as 17 before taking a 41-29 halftime edge.

The Tommies shot 53.8 percent from the field and went 9-for-10 at the free throw line while holding SEMO to 37.5 percent overall and just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Second Half: Minessale opened the second half with four straight points as part of an 8-0 surge that extended the St. Thomas lead to 49-29. Johnson-Arigu and Jermaine Coleman each connected from deep shortly after, helping the Tommies push their margin to a game-high 23 midway through the half. The lead remained near 20 until SEMO mounted a late 12-0 run to pull within 73-64 with just over three minutes left.

Coleman halted the drought with a layup for his career-high 13th point, and Johnson-Arigu followed by scoring the next six Tommie points—four from the free throw line—to secure the 83-72 road win.

Minessale scored 14 second-half points while Johnson-Arigu added 13. St. Thomas shot 65.0 percent from the floor after halftime and 66.7 percent from 3-point range while limiting SEMO to 51.4 percent and 4-of-11 from deep.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

St. Thomas posted a season-high 58.7 percent shooting performance (27-46) and hit 84.6 percent at the free throw line (22-26). SEMO shot 44.8 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from 3-point range and 58.3 percent at the line.
The Tommies won the rebound battle for the first time this season, 29-27, though SEMO converted six offensive boards into 14 second-chance points.
St. Thomas received 36 points off its bench to SEMO's 11, led by career-highs of 21 points from Isaiah Johnson-Arigu and 13 points from Jermaine Coleman.
The Tommies have had two games this season with two or more 20-point scorers, as Nolan Minessale and Nick Janowski did so at Washington State. St. Thomas had two games with two or more players with 20 points or more each last season.
Nolan Minessale continued his season-opening streak of 20-point games, finishing with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting, to go along with a team-high six rebounds and four assists. He has shot above 50 percent in all five games this season and over 58.3 percent in three. He's the only Tommie since at least 2005-06 to begin the season with five straight 20-point games.
After coming off a career-high 14 points Thursday night against Green Bay, Isaiah Johnson-Arigu set a new career high of 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 on 3-pointers, and 9-of-10 on free throws. He added four rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 25 minutes.
Jermaine Coleman came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-6 on 3-pointers. It is his first double-digit scoring game against a Division I opponent, besting his previous career high of 12 points set last season against Crown (MN).
Nick Janowski scored 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting, his fifth straight double-digit game to start his career, while Austin Herro also finished with 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Herro and Janowski both finished with five rebounds while Herro added a team-high five assists and three steals.

UP NEXT
St. Thomas back on the road for another quick turnaround as it travels to face Southeast Missouri State at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15.

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Minessale, Johnson-Arigu each top 20 points in 84-72 win at SEMO

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Players Mentioned

Jermaine Coleman

Austin Herro

Nick Janowski

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu

Nolan Minessale

University of St. Thomas Athletics