St. Thomas sophomore forward Ben Oosterbaan celebrates a play with sophomore guard Jermaine Coleman and graduate guard Ryan Dufault. Oosterbaan scored a career high of 23 points on the way to an 80-67 win against South Dakota State in the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament Thursday at the Denny Sanford Premiere Center. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
Sophomore guard Nolan Minessale added 22 points. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
St. Thomas shot 44.4% from three-point range. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
On Monday, coach Johnny Tauer called Oosterbaan an “unsung hero.” (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
St. Thomas moved on to the late semifinal game Saturday night. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest)
Sophomores forward Ben Oosterbaan and guard Nolan Minessale led St. Thomas men’s basketball to a 80-67 Summit League quarterfinal victory over South Dakota State Thursday at the Denny Sanford Premiere Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Three days after coach Johnny Tauer called him the Tommies’ “unsung hero,” Oosterbaan’s career-high 23 points put him front and center in the biggest game of the season so far.
“I feel like I shoot my best when I got adrenaline, and I’m just kind of lost in the fight of the game, so that’s what happened. It was awesome,” Oosterbaan said.
UST will play the later semifinal game Saturday against the winner of No. 3 North Dakota and No 6. Denver.
Minessale added eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks to his 22 points. He silenced the crowd of 6,000 Jackrabbits fans when he scored eight straight UST points and dished to sophomore forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu for a 10-3 St. Thomas run later in the first half.
Minessale and Oosterbaan’s connection was on full display after Oosterbaan missed two straight shots, up 70-59 with under four minutes left to play.
At the subsequent media timeout, Minessale turned and told him to “slow down” so that the Tommies could hang onto their lead.
“We needed to control the clock there. He was right and we’re not afraid to say anything to each other,” Oosterbaan said. “We’re competing, we’re on a team, we love each other, so we can say anything to each other.”
Redshirt first-year guard Nick Janowski’s ten points and three steals, and Johnson-Arigu’s eight points and block, added to the effort that sent more than 6,000 Jackrabbit fans back on the hour-long drive north.
“I thought (Johnson-Arigu) had one of his best defensive performances in a St. Thomas uniform. I thought (Janowski), who is known for his scoring, played really, really good defense,” Tauer said.
Tommie basketball fans who only see the box score may be confused why junior forward Carter Bjerke made two 3-pointers on just three attempts despite shooting 46.4% on the year. He didn’t attempt a field goal in the first half.
Associate head coach Mike Maker said that SDSU switched sophomore center Damon Wilkinson off Bjerke to take away his perimeter shot, but allowed Oosterbaan to take advantage of the mismatch Wilkinson gave him.
“We’re going to play four-on-four if you take his threes away, that’s fine. He’s not a post-up player,” Maker said.
Wilkinson fouled out with a minute left, and had to manage foul trouble all game. He still scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds.
“(Wilkinson) is a big part of our team, you know offensively and defensively, especially with our pressure defense,” SDSU coach Bryan Petersen said. “You’ve got to give St. Thomas a lot of credit for that. They really got after us.”
Sophomore guards Joe Sayler and Jaden Jackson added 13 and 16 points, respectively, for the Jackrabbits.
SDSU cleaned up on the glass, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and 37 total to UST’s 4 and 25.
St. Thomas was down 35-32 with less than three minutes left in the first half, but took the lead after four straight Jackrabbit turnovers. The Tommies scored 19 points off turnovers.
“The turnovers really got them smart. You know, they sped us up and we had a couple silly turnovers, and that’s kind of what got them out in transition,” Petersen said.
The No. 5 St. Thomas women’s basketball tips off at noon Friday against No. 4 Oral Roberts for their quarterfinal game.
This report is brought to you by U.S. Bank.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
