Anderson Shocks No. 6 St. Thomas in NCAA Opener

Release courtesy of Anderson University

KENOSHA, WI - The Anderson University men's basketball team made its debut in the NCAA Div. III national tournament with a 73-71 heart-stopping victory over No. 6 St. Thomas, Minn., 73-71 on Friday night at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wisc.

"What an unbelievable opponent they were," said AU coach Tom Slyder of the Tommies, who are the winningest program in Div. III the last five years. "We told our guys that the toughest team was going to win because that's what St. Thomas hangs their hat on. We feel fantastic and our guys will tell you how great it feels. It shows that teams from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference can play and we belong (in this tournament)."

Ty Riddle led the Ravens with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists, hitting 6-of-13 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range.

"I was jumpy to start and at the half, coach said to let it come to you," said Riddle, who was 5-of-6 in the second half. "It came to me and I finally knocked down some shots. At the beginning we were a little shocked. We knew it was going to be physical and we battled them tooth and nail."

Morrison had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, including 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Andrew Jones had 17 points, five rebounds and Gabe Miller was also in double figures with 11 points, three rebounds and five assists.

AU made 28-of-33 from the free throw line in the game, including 15-of-16 in the second half. St. Thomas finished 6-of-9 from the free throw line. The Ravens shot 42 percent from the field while the Tommies were at 44 percent with both teams making five shots from behind the arc.

"We've shot free throws well all season and that has won us a lot of games," said Miller, who was 7-of-10 from the line. "We stepped up  in pressure situations (tonight) and knocked them down."We made a statement early in the game that we weren't going to back down. It was frustrating being pressured, but we were patient with the ball."

AU won the battle of the boards 37-33, but St. Thomas had a 15-12 edge on the offensive glass. The Tommies had the lead in points in the paint (40-22), assists (17-11), turnovers (13-17), points off turnovers (24-16), blocks (3-2), steals (8-4) and bench scoring (25-8).

The Ravens led 68-61 with 1:30 left in the game, but a 3-pointer and another basket after a turnover cut the deficit to just two with a minute left. Andrew Jones layup made it 70-66 with 30 seconds left and Gabe Miller added two more free throws to make it 72-68 with 17 ticks remaining.

After a 3-pointer by the Tommies, Brock Morrison made 1-of-2 free throws with just three seconds left. St. Thomas inbounded and had a 30-footer at the buzzer hit the back rim and fell away, securing the victory.

"I was saying ‘no, no, no, please don't go in,' " said Jones of the final shot. "It looked good, but God was on our side."

No. 24 AU (23-5) will advance to the second round on Saturday night against the Carthage/Aurora winner. The game will be carried live on stretch internet, video and live stats from Kenosha, Wisc., at 7 p.m.

"We are excited we won and we can't wait to see the stat sheet and how we shocked them," said Slyder. "We don't care who we play."