St. Thomas sophomore Jermaine Coleman drives to the basket. The Tommies won 84-62 against North Dakota State Bison at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena Thursday. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
The game was played in front of a reported crowd of 4708 people, including a packed student section. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
UST currently sits at second place in the Summit League, behind NDSU. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
The Tommies shot an impressive 56.1% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
Tauer credited the team’s success to associated head coach Mike Maker, who coached his 1,000th game Thursday. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest) 
If the current Summit League standings stick, UST would play the late quarterfinal game the evening of March 5. (Milla Mirkovic/The Crest)
Junior forward Carter Bjerke led St. Thomas to an 84-62 win over North Dakota State Thursday by going 7-9 from three-point range at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
Bjerke dropped six three-pointers in the first half of the game and finished the game with 21 points in a battle of the top Summit League teams. The Tommies (22-8, 11-4 Summit) led by as many as 34 points against the Bison (23-7, 13-2) midway through the second half.
“I just hunt my shot and get in the right spot for when they double team in the post, so (sophomore guard Nolan Minessale) or one of the other guys can spray it to me,” Bjerke said.
Minessale averaged 19.9 points per game for St. Thomas ahead of Thursday’s matchup, but took a more selfless role against NDSU, frequently drawing the Bison defense into the paint and passing the ball to open shooters. Minessale ended the game with six assists, a team high for the night.
“I think one of the big emphases for this game was just make the easy passes, make the defense rotate, and just play it from there,” Minessale said.
First-year guard Nick Janowski also had a high-scoring night, contributing 21 points to the Tommie victory. Janowski shot 9-11 from the field.
“I thought against a really talented, hard-nosed, well-coached team tonight, our guys executed maybe as well as we have all year,” St. Thomas head coach Johnny Tauer said.
The Tommies finished the game with 23 assists, six more than their season average of 17 per game. The Tommies also shot 56.1% from the field and 40% from deep, both improvements from their season averages of 51.4% from the field and 36.6% from three.
Thursday’s game also marked St. Thomas associate head coach Mike Maker’s 1000th career game coached. Tauer credited Thursday’s shot selection and discipline to Maker’s work with the team in recent practices.
“What he does with them is so great,” Tauer said.
The Lee and Penny Anderson Arena hosted a full student section for the game, possibly due to free replica jerseys being given to the first 400 students at the entrance.
“If we can keep playing like that and bringing people back, that’s the goal, to keep drawing more attention to St. Thomas basketball as we continue to ascend,” Bjerke said.
In the Tommies’ previous matchup with NDSU on January 27, the Bison got the win with a final score of 68-65. NDSU snapped the Tommies’ three-game win streak in late January, forcing 15 St. Thomas turnovers. On Thursday, the Tommies cut that number in nearly half, turning the ball over just eight times.
As the standings currently sit, UST would play the late quarterfinal game on March 5 in the Summit League championship.
“Now it’s a quick turnaround, and should be another awesome atmosphere on Saturday against Omaha, who won it last year,” Tauer said.
The Tommies will be back in Lee and Penny Anderson Arena on Saturday to face the reigning Summit League Tournament champions, Omaha, to end their regular season schedule.
Owen Bell can be reached at bell9606@stthomas.edu.
