Tommies pull away from Johnnies, 80-56, behind Minessale’s double-double

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The nation's longest winning streak is back at St. Thomas as the men's basketball program pulled away in the second half of an 80-56 win over Saint John's Thursday night in front of a sellout crowd of 5,325. Sophomore Nolan Minessale recorded his first career double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds, his second straight 30-point game, as the Tommies (8-4) have now won 23 straight games at home.

SCORING SUMMARY:
First Half: Minessale scored the game's first points on a driving layup, two of his 19 in the first half, just under two minutes into action. Following back-to-back baskets by Nick Janowski for a 6-2 lead, Saint John's sank back-to-back 3-pointers for its first lead. The Tommies shot 1-of-6 from the field over the next 5:50 as the Johnnies extended its lead to four, 15-11.

Janowski's third basket sparked a 6-0 run by St. Thomas, capped on back-to-back dunks by Isaiah Johnson-Arigu to retake the lead. The Johnnies took the lead once more, 20-19, before the Tommies created a 34-25 lead behind eight straight points from Minessale. St. Thomas missed its only field goal over the final three minutes of the half and gave away three turnovers of five total in the first half to allow Saint John's to pull within four at halftime, 35-31.

Both teams made 13 field goals in the first half, St. Thomas shooting 46.4 percent compared to 37.1 for Saint John's, who made five 3-pointers to the Tommies' zero.

Second Half: Minessale again started scoring in the second half before converting an and-one opportunity to cap an 8-2 run to lead, 44-33, at the 15:30 mark. Saint John's used free throws and a floating jump shot to pull back within single digits, 45-39.

The game-separating run came over a four-minute span just ahead of the eight-minute media timeout as St. Thomas went on a 13-2 run to lead, 61-43. Jermaine Coleman hit a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock to cap the run as the Tommies held the Johnnies to four straight field goal misses, including two 3-pointers, with one turnover. St. Thomas made 4-of-6 field goals, 2-of-2 from deep, and went 3-of-3 from the free throw line during the span.

St. Thomas led by as many as 26 in the second half, 80-54, with 37 seconds to play after shooting 55.2 percent (16-29) from the field and 41.7 percent (5-12) on 3-pointers over the final 20 minutes. The Tommies limited the Johnnies to 25.9 percent (7-27) overall and 15.4 percent (2-13) from long range during that span.

TOMMIE TIDBITS

The Tommies extended their home winning streak to 23 games, the longest active streak in the nation.
The Lee & Penny Anderson Arena featured its second sellout crowd of the season, following up on the season opener's 5,325 attendance against Army.
Head Coach Johnny Tauer is nearing 300 career wins, notching his 299th following the victory over Saint John's. It is the 13th win by Tauer over Saint John's and the third straight in the series.
St. Thomas finished the game shooting 50.9 percent from the field, the third straight game shooting above 50 percent overall.
The Tommies outscored the Johnnies 46-24 in the paint and 15-0 on fast break points. Saint John's scored 28 points off the bench compared to 27 for St. Thomas, led by sophomore Isaiah Johnson-Arigu with 10 on 5-of-8 shooting who added five rebounds.
Nolan Minessale led all scorers with 30 points, his second straight game with at least 30. He shot 11-of-15 from the field, his second straight game shooting above 70 percent and fourth straight game above 50 percent, while making 2-of-3 from long range and 6-of-9 from the free throw line. He recorded a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Nick Janowski followed Minessale with 15 points along with two rebounds and two assists while Jermaine Coleman added eight points with four rebounds off the bench.

UP NEXT
St. Thomas heads to Asheville, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 13 for a 1 p.m. CT tip-off against UNC Asheville in the first meeting ever between the two programs.

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Tommies pull away from Johnnies, 80-56, behind Minessale’s double-double

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Team Stats

Nolan Minessale

Nick Janowski

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu

Jermaine Coleman

Players Mentioned

Jermaine Coleman

Nick Janowski

Isaiah Johnson-Arigu

Nolan Minessale

University of St. Thomas Athletics