The St. Thomas men’s basketball team celebrated a 72-56 victory over St. Olaf Wednesday in its inaugural game on Steve Fritz Court.
The Tommies missed layups and had excessive fouls in the first half but toned up their play in the second half to cruise to a double-digit victory over the Oles, the only team to defeat St. Thomas on its home court last season.
Junior guard Will Deberg said his team had been looking forward to this rematch for a long time.
“It was an important win for us,” Deberg said. “It was nice to finally post a win against St. Olaf on our home floor.”
The Tommies controlled the beginning of the first half. Senior center Tommy Hannon and senior guard Peter Leslie scored the first baskets of the game and led St. Thomas to an early 7-0 lead before St. Olaf called a timeout.
A layup by Hannon put the Tommies up 17-7 giving the team its biggest lead of the first half.
The Oles were able to fight back toward the end of the first half due to St. Thomas’ constant fouling. The Tommies reached the foul limit nearly halfway through the first half, putting the Oles in the double bonus for almost nine minutes
Deberg believes the fouls committed in the first half put his team in a tough situation.
“We had four or five guys with two fouls that were forced to spend a lot of time on the bench,” he said.
The Tommies did not shoot well from the floor either, shooting only 33 percent in the first half.
St. Thomas was able to end the half with a 32-32 tie after freshman forward Dylan Stewart made one free throw.
The Tommies looked like a different team in the second half. After sophomore forward Zach Riedeman forced a turnover, junior guard John Nance gave his team a 41-38 edge with an impressive three-point-play.
Deberg said plays like Nance’s were a result of his team’s ferocious full-court defense.
“Our full-court defense forced a lot of steals and turnovers that created more scoring opportunites for us,” he said.
The Tommies forced 15 turnovers but also had 10 of their own.
Another key difference in the second half was the lack of fouls. St. Thomas committed its first foul nearly ten minutes into the half, but St. Olaf put St. Thomas in the bonus with 10:40 remaining in the game, allowing the Tommies to shoot 17 free throws in the second half.
In addition to free throw opportunities, the Tommies generated points off several fast-break layups from players like Hannon, Nance and freshman center Connor Nord
The Oles were able to stay in the game due to the strong play of freshman guard Sterling Nielsen and senior forward Stuart Neville.
Nielsen hit a couple threes during the second half, but Deberg thinks his team’s defense did a solid job containing him.
“He had some great shots, but we were able to throw a couple defenders on him for added pressure,” Deberg said. “I think that threw him off.”
The Tommies posted the biggest lead of the second half after a Hannon layup made it 70-52.
Coach John Tauer was able to put all his bench players in at the end of the game, which Deberg enjoyed.
“It’s always nice to see everyone get in,” Deberg said.
Hannon led his team with 16 points followed by Nord with 12. Nord also led the team with eight rebounds. Deberg added a team-high 12 assists and three steals.
The team will host Gustavus in its next game on Saturday, Dec. 3.
Hayley Schnell can be reached at schn3912@stthomas.edu.