St. Thomas men’s basketball loses in Summit League final 85-75

Omaha ended the Tommie men’s basketball’s season 85-75 in the Summit League final game Sunday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

No. 1 seed Omaha dispatched UST to cap off the Mavericks’ best Summit League season in school history. St. Thomas couldn’t overcome a monster game by UNO’s stars in the two schools’ first championship game.

“They were … a very tough, physical team, and they made key shots. They’re talented and well-coached,” UST coach Johnny Tauer said.

Omaha had already guaranteed its spot in the NCAA tournament as St. Thomas is still ineligible and the Mavericks had won the regular season tournament.

“We’ve never had a chance to go to the tournament, and we knew that, and that’s fine. Going into all this, we understood that was part of the deal. While the public likes to talk about that, and I understand that, I don’t think you’ve ever heard us lament that because that’s the deal,” Tauer said.

Tauer’s squad trailed by as many as 15 points early in the second half but shrunk the deficit to six points twice, including at the 3:55 mark.

“I thought they got hot, to be honest with you, at the end there,” Mavericks coach Chris Crutchfield said, “I mean, they cut that thing down. But I think our length, our athleticism, our ability to switch on the perimeter … caused problems defensively.”

Despite first-year guard Nolan Minnesale’s best effort to spark the offense with his 20 point performance, the Tommies had to navigate foul trouble throughout the second half.

Omaha was already in the bonus midway through the half. Tauer also had to manage Minnesale, sophomore forward Carter Bjerke and redshirt first-year guard Ben Oosterbaan, who all had four fouls each in the final minutes.

Senior guard Ryan Dufault fouled out with 1:35 left to play.

St. Thomas was second in the Summit League in three-point percentage at 38.7% but shot under 29% Sunday. At halftime, graduate forward Rich Byhre and Minnesale were a combined 4-5 from range while the rest of the team was 0-12.

“There’s going to be variance in shooting. There’s a lot of factors. Some of it might have been Omaha’s defense. I thought some guys got good looks that we’ll live with every single day. We take 35 threes, there’s probably going to be some nights we make 20 of them; tonight we made 10 of them,” Tauer said.

Summit League Player of the Year Omaha’s Marquel Sutton scored 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds — a Summit title game record — while earning tournament MVP. 

“I feel like I’m one of the best athletes on the floor, so I’m supposed to do that. No surprise,” Sutton said.

His fellow senior, guard JJ White, scored 22 points while also earning himself a spot on the all-tournament team. White hadn’t received any pre-season all-conference nods but finished as all-Summit first-team.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful, but nobody thought I would have the season I had this year, and that’s the truth,” White said.

Junior guard Lance Waddles dropped 15 on 5-8 shooting, and 11 of them came in the first half. He turned his offensive game around after going 0-8 the night before.

“I just focus on the most important thing, which is today. Championship, winning for these guys, so that’s all I had in mind. Just win and do whatever it takes,” Waddles said.

Tommie junior guard duo Kendall Blue and Miles Barnstable also earned all-tournament nods. Blue scored 36 points across the first two games but was held to just nine on 3-12 shooting on Sunday. He didn’t connect on a single three.

Barnstable scored 14 on Sunday and averaged 15 across the tournament.

North Dakota junior guard Treysen Eaglestaff rounded out the selections — bolstered by his 51-point performance in the quarterfinals.

Graduate guard Drake Dobbs struggled Sunday, shooting 2-10 overall and 0-6 from beyond the arc.

In the Summit League’s preseason poll, St. Thomas was picked to finish fourth in the conference. In the end, the team finished in second with a conference record of 12-4 in conference and 24-10 overall, its best season in the D-I era.

“It’s been a long journey. Super proud of our guys and where we’ve come from … obviously we’ve had a ton of success this year and each year our program’s gotten better,” Dobbs said. “I think it’s just a credit to (Tauer) and the coaching staff just recruiting the right guys. We’re still on the rise. This stings now but I hope the guys who are still in the program remember it and use it as fuel.”

Omaha also capped off its best season of D-I play with 22 wins after being picked eighth out of nine teams before the season.

“We earned it. Everything that we accomplished this year, we earned it personally and as a team, so nothing else to say,” Sutton said.

Emotions poured out of both teams after the game. UST players attempted to hold back tears in the handshake line, while Mavericks players cried out of joy.

An extra stab of pain came when a door inadvertently swung open during Tauer’s post-game press conference, and he was interrupted by the sounds of Omaha’s celebration.

Blue says that he’s going to carry the leadership he’s learned this season into the next.

“It stings just to lose when you put all the effort in. If you told us in June that we were going to be in the Summit League championship, maybe we would not believe, it maybe we do. Getting the guys motivated to use this as motivation for next year,” Blue said.

Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.

The Crest student media’s coverage of the Summit League tournament is sponsored by U.S. Bank. The Crest is the independent student-run media at the University of St. Thomas.