[slidepress gallery= ‘110129_basketball’]
Led by junior Tommy Hannon’s career-high 23 points, the eighth-ranked St. Thomas men’s basketball team defeated Bethel 82-72 at home Saturday afternoon, holding off a late surge by the Royals.
Hannon was virtually unstoppable throughout the game, shooting 6-8 from the field and 11-15 from the free throw line. Hannon’s performance is the latest in a string of solid games for the center, who is averaging close to 18 points in his last four outings.
“He works hard,” coach Steve Fritz said. “He gets himself in good positions, and he’s been able to finish. He’s made himself a very good player at this level.”
The Tommies opened the first half playing tenacious defense that forced Bethel into turnovers. Able to capitalize off Bethel’s mistakes, St. Thomas started the game with a 10-2 run, forcing a flustered Royals team to take an early timeout.
The timeout, however, did not work the way Bethel had hoped. Instead of slowing the pace of the game, the Tommies came out of the timeout with even more momentum, taking a commanding 28-5 lead. During the Tommies’ run, Bethel missed 19 of its first 21 shots.
With a possible blowout on its hands, a young Bethel team responded with veteran-like confidence, posting a 12-1 run that cut the deficit to 12. Just as things started to go Bethel’s way, sophomore John Nance hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give St. Thomas a comfortable 37-22 lead at halftime.
“I though we came out as strong as we ever have the whole season,” Hannon said. “We really concentrated the last two weeks on pressuring teams. We wanted to make their guards make tough plays, and I think we did a great job of that, especially in the first half.”
Though the first half belonged to the Tommies, the Royals came out in the second half and made it a game. Shooting the ball with confidence, Bethel was able to cut the score to 48-42, putting together a 10-0 run highlighted by four straight points from junior Daniel Baah.
“I always felt like we were in the driver’s seat,” Hannon said. “It was kind of frustrating. They made a lot of threes, and you have to give them credit.”
Bethel shot 50 percent from the 3-point line in the second half, connecting on six of 12 attempts. The Royals made nine 3-pointers on the game, two coming from its leading scorer, sophomore Taylor Hall, who chipped in 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
“Once we get a team down like that we have to close them out right away,” Hannon said. “In the second half, they thought they had a chance to get back in it. We have to play better on defense.”
Though Bethel was able to cut the Tommies’ lead to six, that was the closest the game ever was. Senior Tyler Nicolai came up with two key steals down the stretch for St. Thomas, and Nance came off the bench to take a key charge for the Tommies when the team needed a boost.
“Our bench is key,” Nance said. “We got a good starting five, and we’ve got great depth but sometimes we’re kind of inconsistent on the bench. I think a lot of the guys on the bench are gaining confidence to play at a higher level. It’s great for the team.”
Nance led all bench players with nine points, all coming in the first half. Nicolai and senior Alex Healy finished with 14 points, and senior Anders Halverson added 10 points and five blocked shots.
With Saturday’s win, St. Thomas improves to 17-1 overall and 11-1 in the MIAC. The Tommies are now 9-0 at home this season and have won 53 consecutive home games against conference opponents.
St. Thomas will face a tough St. Olaf team (11-6 overall, 6-6 in the MIAC) Monday at home.
“We expect that they will come at us very hard,” Fritz said. “They’ve got very good players, and you just have to be ready. You have to defend your home court.”
Ryan Shaver can be reached at shav7005@stthomas.edu.