Men’s Basketball gets win at Concordia
The St. Thomas men’s basketball team beat Division II Concordia St. Paul 94-88 Saturday, Nov. 26, at Concordia’s Gangelhoff Center. The Tommies led by as much as 16 points and held off the Golden Bears’ comeback.
The Tommies shot 72 percent in the first half and outrebounded Concordia, which held size advantages at almost every position.
The Tommies also led Concordia in free throw attempts, getting to the line 27 times compared to Concordia’s 12.
Senior center Tommy Hannon had 19 points and nine rebounds, and he believes Concordia has some of the best guards the Tommies will face this year.
“They are a really good team,” Hannon said. “I was just trying to be a presence inside and get offensive rebounds to try to be a leader and help the team.”
Sophomore forward Zach Riedeman had 26 points off the bench, and Hannon said it was “the best game I’ve seen (Riedeman) play.”
“Our guards especially did a really good job on defense,” Hannon said. “We just need guys like that to step up every night.”
The Tommies came into Saturday’s game looking to bounce back after suffering their first loss of the season to Wisconsin-River Falls Tuesday, Nov. 22.
“Certainly there were some things we didn’t execute well against River Falls. Concordia was like them in the sense that physically, they are an excellent team,” coach John Tauer said.
“That was the first time we lost a non-conference game since my sophomore year,” Hannon said. “We really worked hard in practice to try to get better and fix the problems we had on Tuesday night.”
The Tommie’s home basketball game against Gustavus Saturday has been rescheduled for 8 p.m. because of the playoff football game.
Sadjadi saves men’s hockey against Adrian College
Sophomore goalie Geoff Sadjadi stopped 26 of 27 shots in his first start this season helping the Tommies take a 3-1 victory over No. 4-ranked Adrian College Sunday, Nov. 27.
“I’ve just been waiting for my shot,” Sadjadi said. “It was a battle all the way through, but we played well as a team and found a way to get a huge win on the road.”
Senior captain forward Rob Phillip broke a 1-1 tie in the third period with a power play goal, and freshman forward Alex Altenbernd scored on an empty net to give the Tommies some breathing room.
“Phillip’s goal was huge,” Sadjadi said. “We had a lot of power play opportunities, so for that one to go in really gave us a boost.”
The Tommies strong showing against Adrian came after a letdown in a 2-1 loss against Buffalo State College Saturday, Nov. 26..
Sadjadi said that the Buffalo State College game “is definitely one we should have had,” but he’s happy with the win over Adrian.
“We needed to get that win to be considered national contenders,” he said.
After spending the weekend in Michigan, the Tommies head to Moorhead Friday for two games against the Concordia-Moorhead Cobbers.
“We have a little bit of bad blood with Concordia,” Sadjadi said. “They’ve beaten us twice on our home ice, so we want to go beat them twice on their rink and send them a message.”
Women’s basketball gets two wins in Texas
The St. Thomas women’s basketball team is heading home from San Antonio with a 2-0 record against Texas teams.
The Tommies took down previously undefeated Southwestern University 76-63 Saturday, Nov. 26. and beat Trinity University 80-63 on Sunday, Nov. 27. Senior center Sarah Smith lead her team with 38 points over the weekend.
After trailing by 10 at halftime to Southwestern, St. Thomas shot 60 percent in the second half on its way to a comeback victory.
Smith lead the charge, shooting 9-10 in the game for 23 points and grabbing 11 boards. Sophomore center Maggie Weiers scored 14 points, and sophomore forward Taylor Young added 13.
Smith and the Tommies kept their shooting hands hot against Trinity draining 56 percent of their shots.
Once again the Tommies found themselves down early, but a late 18-4 run put the game away.
St. Thomas is scheduled to play at home against Gustavus Saturday but the game starts at 6 p.m. instead of the scheduled time due to the football playoffs.
Alex Keil and Patrick Roche contributed to this report.