Ryan Boll finished one rebound shy of a double-double as the St. Thomas men’s basketball team defeated Carleton College 94-69 Monday evening at Schoenecker Arena.
With the win, the Tommies (13-8, 11-5 MIAC) moved up one spot into third place in the MIAC, while the Knights (12-9, 10-6 MIAC) fell to sixth.
The teams went blow for blow in the first half with the Tommies taking a five-point halftime lead.
Carleton battled back to take a 49-48 lead with 17 minutes remaining in the game. The Tommies countered with their Ryans; Ryan Boll and Ryan Lindberg. The two combined for 14 straight points for the Tommies and a 63-54 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
The Tommies outscored the Knights 53-33 in the second half to cruise to a 25-point win.
Boll finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, including 21 second-half points. Lindberg finished with 19 points shooting four of five from the three-point line.
“When guys start to give you space and you get in a rhythm during the game, it’s a good a feeling,” Lindberg said of his hot shooting from three.
“We’re feeling good. It’s kind of a big stretch especially this week we’re playing three upcoming big playoff teams, so hopefully we can get three big wins this week.”
Coach John Tauer welcomed former Tommie standout Connor Nord back to Schoenecker Arena, but this time he was on the visitor’s bench.
“It’s always a little strange when you are coaching against an ex-player,” Tauer said.
Nord played in 117 games for the Tommies and scored 1,056 points career points. After graduating from St. Thomas, Nord went on to play for professionally in Germany for one season before returning to Minnesota.
“Connor is one of the all-time greats to play here,” Tauer said. “He is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached and really helped in many ways to create a work ethic in this program.”
Nord is now in his second year as an assistant coach for the Carleton Knights.
“He was a great mentor to many young guys– some of our seniors played with him, and so it’s fun to see him doing what he loves,” Tauer said.
Boll was one of those seniors.
“It’s uh, it’s always interesting,” Boll joked. “We always text each other before the game and bullcrap, but it’s always good seeing an alumni.”
St. Thomas plays Augsburg Wednesday evening on the road. The Tommies fell to the Auggies 62-52 in their first meeting back in the early January.
Brady Halbmaier can be reached at halb2084@stthomas.edu.