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For at least one night, the future is now for St. Thomas.
Taking on one of the premier programs in the Summit League, the Tommies relied on a pair of talented freshmen, Ahjany Lee and Andrew Rohde, to beat South Dakota State 60-54 on Thursday night at Schoenecker Arena for their biggest win at the Division I level.
“Our coaches were saying all week that this (could be) a signature win for us,” Lee said. “We looked at it as a game where we needed a win in the league against a higher-end opponent.”
The Tommies (14-9 overall) improved to 5-5 in league play while the Jackrabbits (11-10) fell to 6-3.
Coming off the bench, the 6-foot-9 Lee, who came into the game averaging 4.9 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game, finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 23 minutes. Rohde had a team-high 15 points while continuing to contribute in multiple ways.
The Jackrabbits are a much more physical team than the Tommies, led by Matt Dentlinger (6-8, 240 pounds) and freshman William Kyle (6-9, 215). Parker Bjorklund starts at center for the Tommies but is playing out of position at 6-6 and 200 pounds.
Enter Lee. He helped control the paint while also being a key contributor on offense.
“Going into every game I don’t tell myself I’m going to score,” Lee said. “It’s more just whatever comes to me. I never really know how well I’ll do on the offensive end. Coming off the bench, (the coaches) want to bring energy, so that’s what I try to do every time.”
St. Thomas coach Johnny Tauer said that going back to Lee’s high school days, he’s never been a big scorer but impacts games in other ways.
“He’s one of those guys who doesn’t really care if he scores,” Tauer said. “He loves to rebound, he loves to pass. Just seeing him out there playing freely … he’s grown a lot just going out there and keeping it simple.”
The win snapped the Tommies’ three-game losing streak, with all three losses coming on the road.
“It’s hard to win on the road,” Lee said. “It doesn’t mean that we can’t, but it’s a hard thing to do. The last week has been really aggressive in practice, just making each other better.”
The Tommies lost to the Jackrabbits 71-64 in Brookings, South Dakota, on Dec. 31, a much more competitive game than the two meetings between the teams last season, when the Jackrabbits won both by an average of 17 points.
The Tommies led 32-29 at halftime despite shooting 35.5 percent, including 29.4 percent from 3 (5 of 17). Lee was 4 of 5 from the field in the first half and added a pair of free throws. The game remained close throughout the second half, with both teams seemingly battling for every inch.
Riley Miller hit a key 3-pointer with just under 5 minutes to play to give the Tommies a 54-47 lead. With under a minute to play and the Tommies leading 54-50, Rohde backed his defender down in the lane and connected on a 10-footer, just beating the shot clock.
“That allowed us to defend and guard the arc differently,” Tauer said. “That was a play a month ago he probably would have settled for a fade-away 15-footer.”
For Tauer it was just another example of his talented freshman working to make his game better.
“The last time we played South Dakota State was a rough outing for him,” Tauer said. “He and I probably had a two-and-a-half hour film session just one on one after that game. And he’s so coachable. So tonight he has eight assists, four steals. Forget about the points. Just the way he plays — he’s a special young man.”
Briefly
The Tommies stretched their home winning streak to 11 games. All five of their conference wins this season have come at home.
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