Behind forward Jimmy Remke’s 14 points and 10 rebounds, the St. Thomas men’s basketball team defeated St. Olaf 66-49 Monday night at Schoenecker Arena and clinched at least a share of its 10th consecutive MIAC championship.

The Tommies (21-2 overall, 16-2 MIAC) trounced the Oles (20-4 overall, 15-4 MIAC) – the second-place team in the MIAC standings – and completed the regular season sweep with Monday’s win. St. Thomas coach John Tauer called the win “historic.”

“Certainly (it’s historic) in terms of at least sharing our 10th conference title. I hope our guys revel in that,” Tauer said. “At the start of the year, every team wants to be in that position.”

After an early deficit, the Tommies didn’t surrender the lead after the first two and a half minutes of the game. Forward Jimmy Ancius’ steal sparked the Tommies to a 20-8 run over the next 11 minutes of the game.

“Jimmy Remke and Jimmy Ancius off the bench tonight were unbelievable,” Tauer said. “To have two posts like that come in for Conner (Nord) and Ryan (Saarela) … the four of them really set the tone inside on both ends and probably more importantly on the glass.”

After he missed Saturday’s loss to Concordia-Moorhead because of an illness, Remke acted as St. Thomas’ catalyst against St. Olaf.

“Rebounds and hustle points (were the key), and that’s what we took care of. We made some shots and played well as a team,” Remke said. “It was great to get back out there. I was sick this weekend. It was great to play again.”

The Tommies lost their second game of the season to Concordia Saturday, but guard Marcus Alipate said the team learned from the loss and rectified its mistakes.

“We didn’t come out they way we should’ve on Saturday. A game like this, it’s not that hard to get up for,” Alipate said. “We came back and played the way we were capable of playing.”

St. Thomas held St. Olaf to 31.7 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Tauer credited the Tommies’ team defense and unselfish play as the keys for the Oles’ struggles.

“To hold them to 17 points in the first half set the tone. I’m very proud against an outstanding team that we were able to play tough for 40 minutes. I think when you look at our defense, it’s team defense,” Tauer said. “(The guys) understood what we were doing, and they trusted one another. That trust and unselfishness allows us to execute on both ends in a really efficient way and also a way that I think our guys love to play.”

“Defensively we talked about making them take tough shots,” Alipate said. “I think that we contest a lot of their shots that they usually hit, and it ended up working out for us.”

St. Thomas resumes play at 7 p.m. Wednesday when it hosts Bethel.

Jordan Kruger can be reached at krug6172@stthomas.edu.