ST. PAUL – South Dakota State went into St. Paul shorthanded on Thursday night but while they were able to hang around late into the second half, they couldn’t close the game out as St. Thomas picked up a 60-54 victory at Schoenecker Arena.
Limited to just eight players due to injury, the Jackrabbits built a lead early as Zeke Mayo’s 3-pointer with 6:01 to play in the first half put SDSU ahead 27-21. The Tommies took charge from there, going on a 11-2 run that sent the Jacks into the locker room down 32-29.
SDSU ran into more trouble in the second half, shooting just over 34 percent in the second half but took a 47-46 lead on a 3-pointer by Mayo with 7:46 to play in the second half. Ahjany Lee’s jumper with 7:20 to play put the Tommies ahead for good and 3-pointers by Andrew Rohde and Riley Miller gave St. Thomas a 54-47 lead with 5:01 to play.
SDSU would make it a 58-54 game on a jumper by Matt Dentlinger with six seconds to play, but it was too late as Rhode made a pair of free throws to put the game away.
SDSU shot 40.7 percent from the floor for the game including 7-for-20 (35 percent) from 3-point range. The Jacks also had trouble getting to the free throw line, making just 3-of-5 free throw attempts on the night.
The Tommies shot just 37 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range but they also shot 11-for-12 from the free-throw line and took advantage of SDSU’s 16 turnovers.
The Jacks were paced by Mayo, who left Saturday’s win over Denver early with a lower-leg injury. The sophomore had 23 points on the night and shot 5-for-8 from beyond the arc but Matt Dentlinger was the only other player in double figures with 15 points and eight rebounds. Matt Mims had six points for the Jacks while William Kyle III had six points and six rebounds while Matthew Mors had four points in the loss.
Rohde led the Tommies with 15 points, eight assists and four steals on the night while Lee had 12 points and eight rebounds. Allen had nine points and nine rebounds while Miller and Kendall Blue had eight points each in the victory.
The Jacks fell to 11-10 on the season and 6-3 in the Summit League with the loss. SDSU will continue their weekend on the road when they travel to Western Illinois on Saturday afternoon.
