St. Thomas certainly strengthened its argument and as maybe the state’s best Division I men’s basketball team Wednesday.
The Tommies took down South Dakota State 73-72 in a physical, down-to-the-wire thriller between two of the top Summit League teams.
As to be expected, the game was decided late inside a packed Schoenecker Arena — the final portion of a second, to be exact.
Down by one after a pair of free throws by Drake Dobbs with 13.2 seconds left, South Dakota State was amiss in its final offensive set against an aggressive St. Thomas defense.
Trying to go through 6-foot-11 center Oscar Cluff, who finished with 13 points and 19 rebounds and was shadowed by Carter Bjerke, the Jackrabbits ultimately kicked out to Matthew Mors. His 3-point shot was released a few tenths of a second after the final buzzer. The ball fell through the net, but officials emphatically signaled it was too late. Video review upheld the call.
A year ago, South Dakota State made a last-second shot to win at St. Thomas.
“What a college basketball game,” St. Thomas coach Johnny Tauer said. “… They’ve been, in many ways, the gold standard in this conference for a long, long time, and they continue to be.”
With the game tied at 69, Nolan Minessale, who led St. Thomas with 17 points, made a turnaround jumper over Cluff with 38.4 seconds to play, but South Dakota State’s Owen Larson countered with a 3-pointer for a one-point lead with 22.6 ticks left.
St. Thomas likes to shoot the three — finishing 13 for 33 from deep — after entering with a nearly 40% clip. It was treys by Ben Oosterbaan, Minessale and Dobbs during a 12-0 mid-second half run that ga e the Tommies a 57-54 lead.
Long-distance success was needed, because St. Thomas was dominated inside. South Dakota State. held a 47-25 advantage on the glass and 38-24 on points in the paint. But St. Thomas had just four turnovers.
“It’s one of our core principles and we just do it,” Dobbs said.
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