In St. Thomas’s first road trip of the season it took them to a familiar opponent, the Green Bay Phoenix. St. Thomas’s fresh faces, once again, led them to a road victory 90-76
The game started off with a bang as UW-GB’s Anthony Roy led scoring with a slam dunk, and then he almost immediately stole the ball from the Tommies’ Kendall Blue for an easy layup. Roy would lead all scorers with 24. That 4 point lead for UW-GB would be the largest they would have for the game. St. Thomas in the first half put up impressive shooting numbers. Rich Byrhe making his first start as a Tommie against his own team scored 4 early points, finishing the half and game with 6. Ryan Dufault sent St. Thomas into halftime up 19, 54-35, with a buzzer beater jumper, he finished the game with 14.
St. Thomas’s shooting in the second half came back down to earth, while at the same time gifting GB points with 9 second half turnovers. Green Bay cut the lead down to 9 with 4:34 to play, before St. Thomas answered with an Oosterbaan three pointer to breakup the GB run. 9 points was the closest in the second half GB got to making this a close one in the second half.
Wisconsin-Whitewater transfer Miles Barnstable, who formerly lit up the UW Schools at the D3 level, was able to do the same against a Division 1 UW Institution, scoring 23 going 6-11 from the field. The team as a whole took to it to the paint against the Phoenix scoring 48 in the paint! Leading the way for the veterans was Kendall Blue with 17, going 7-10 from the field.
St. Thomas now travels from Green Bay to Stillwater Oklahoma to play Oklahoma State. The Cowboys of Oklahoma State earlier this week 89-76. If this game tonight is any indication, UST has a solid chance to get a Power 5 victory. The victory over Green Bay marks the first time in the Division 1 era that UST has started their road record 1-0.
Roll Toms.