The South Dakota State men’s basketball team was defeated 80-67 by the St. Thomas Tommies in a quarterfinal matchup in the Summit League Tournament. SDSU ends the season 14-18 and 7-10 against conference opponents.
SDSU entered the game as the seventh seed, facing the No. 2 offense and No. 2 defense in the Summit League, but through the first 10 minutes, they played well. With about 10 minutes of play left, the Jacks were holding onto a 19-15 lead. St. Thomas’ star players, Nolan Minessale and Nick Janowski, were being held in check; the Jacks were creating extra opportunities, and turnovers were being kept in line. While defense was the underlying theme of the first 10 minutes, offense took over as the game progressed.
By the end of the half, St. Thomas took the lead after trailing most of the game. One of the key factors toward St. Thomas’ 39-37 advantage was Minessale, who scored 10 points in the last 10 minutes of play. Fouls were a problem for the Jacks, with the Tommies going 6-of-8 from the free-throw line while SDSU went 5-for-5.
Joe Sayler led the way for the Jacks in the first half, scoring 11 points, while Damon Wilkinson had the second most on the team with eight. For the Tommies, Minessale led the charge with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
The Tommies started the second half building on their recently acquired lead. Carter Bjerke with a 3-pointer and Ben Oosterbaan with two built a five-point lead. Janowski, who averaged 22 points against the Jackrabbits this season, scored his eighth point of the game to take an eight-point lead. SDSU’s offense, which was managing in the first half, had gone cold. Eight combined misses in the first four minutes allowed the Tommies to build a lead. Jaden Jackson went to the line on a driving layup in what SDSU hoped would become a turning point. Nearly six minutes in, the Jacks were 1-of-13 from the field while St. Thomas was 4-of-6.
Wilkinson ended a nearly six-minute field goal drought for the Jacks with a three-point play, cutting the deficit to eight points. Jackson followed Wilkinson’s bucket with one of his own, putting the score at 52-46 with 11:55 left in the second half. St. Thomas responded with a five-point run, and after Matthew Mors scored a layup, St. Thomas’ Oosterbaan hit a 3-pointer to put the Tommies up 12. Oosterbaan had averaged 6.9 points per game up to the matchup but was at 21 with that shot, a career high. The Tommies were also shooting more than 50% from 3-point range while holding the Jacks to 4-of-21.
With 3:05 on the clock and trailing 70-61, the Jacks had a lot of work to do coming out of the timeout. Janowski put up a 3-pointer as the shot clock wound down and missed, but a foul on Kalen Garry resulted in two points for the Tommies. SDSU was unable to overcome the deficit and suffered its third straight loss to St. Thomas.
Jackson led the Jackrabbits in scoring with 16 points while also posting five steals. Wilkinson and Sayler tied for the second most on the team with 13 apiece. As a team, the Jacks shot 6-of-29 from 3-point range and 24-of-63 from the field.
Oosterbaan came through for the Tommies in a game where their Summit League Freshman of the Year, Janowski, struggled. Oosterbaan scored a game-high 23 points and hit the most 3-pointers of anyone with five. St. Thomas coach John Tauer called Oosterbaan an “unsung hero” for the Tommies, crediting his playmaking, leadership and toughness. Trailing him for the second most points in the game was Minessale with 22.
SDSU will still be represented in the Summit League by the women’s team, which will play the winner of No. 3 South Dakota and No. 6 Denver on Saturday.
