MAYO, JACKS SHOCK TOMMIES BEHIND GAME WINNER

Thursday, January 11

St. Paul, Minn.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

9-8,2-0Summit League

St. Thomas

12-6,2-1Summit League

South Dakota St.

St. Thomas (MN)

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

1/11/2024 10:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andrew Pedersen

ST. PAUL, Minn. — South Dakota State junior Zeke Mayo connected on a jumper with six seconds remaining to complete a comeback and stun St. Thomas in an 81-80 victory on Thursday, Jan. 11, at Schoenecker Arena.

The matchup pitted the two remaining unbeatens in Summit League men's basketball, and though early in the league slate, lived up to expectations.

South Dakota State used a 12-0 scoring run to close out the first half and head to the halftime break up 39-30.

St. Thomas responded just four minutes into the second half by cutting the deficit to 42-41. The Jackrabbits staved off the Tommies for another seven minutes, but two free throws by Kendall Blue put St. Thomas ahead 58-57 with 9:02 to play.

An 11-0 scoring run extended the Tommies advantage as the hosts led by as many as eight. St. Thomas had a 77-70 edge with 2:37 on the clock and a Parker Bjorklund field goal kept the Tommies up 79-74 with 1:33 remaining.

The Jackrabbits were resilient in the game's final moments.

Charlie Easley connected on a 3-pointer to trim the Tommies' lead to 79-77 with 1:20 left. Easley fouled out on St. Thomas' next possession, but the Tommies' Ben Nau made just one of his two free throws to make it an 80-77 score.

Mayo worked his way quickly up the floor and hit a floater in the paint to cut the margin to 80-79 with 46 seconds on the clock. Trying to work the shot clock down, St. Thomas was able to earn another opportunity at the free throw stripe with 16 seconds to play.

The Tommies' Raheem Anthony went to the line and missed both of his free throw attempts. Mayo corralled the rebound and worked his way up the court. He dribbled his way across the half court line and eventually drove to the right side of the lane. Mayo jump stopped right outside the block and his defender's momentum sent him into the paint. Mayo had a clear shot at the rim and his jumper swished through the net to give the Jackrabbits their first lead in nearly nine minutes.

Anthony had one more attempt to give St. Thomas an opportunity for the win, but his 3-point attempt from the top of the key in traffic didn't fall as time expired.

Mayo finished the contest with a game-high 25 points. The Jackrabbits improved to 9-8 overall and 2-0 in Summit League play. The Tommies dropped to 12-6 while being handed their first loss in conference action, falling to 2-1.

"It was a great win for our team," said South Dakota State head coach Eric Henderson. "This is like a win-and-a-half. There's not going to be a lot of teams that come in here and win. (St. Thomas) does a great job, but I've got to talk about our team and the poise we had. I didn't love the second half. We got spread out and we were basically playing 1-on-1. But the last four minutes, we did a great a job, we forced a couple turnovers and we scored quickly.

"We've been in a lot of close ones. It's nice to get on the right side of it. I do think they're a very good basketball team. We've played a really hard schedule, we've had a few lapses, but we don't quit and we fight. There's a belief in our team, we have a belief that we will win."

Notes

South Dakota State outshot St. Thomas 55.8-43.9% from the field. St. Thomas was just 33% from 3-point range, but connected on 13 of its attempts. The Jackrabbits went 10 of 16 from deep. The Jackrabbits' 62.5% clip from long range is tied for their fifth best mark in a single game during their Division I era.
Mayo scored his game-high 25 points on 7 of 12 shooting. He made all three of his 3-point attempts and was 8-for-9 at the free throw line. Mayo also had a game-high nine rebounds and three steals, as well as three assists.
Joining Mayo in double digits for SDSU were Luke Appel and William Kyle III as each scored 13 points. Nate Barnhart registered nine points for the Jackrabbits. Easley had five rebounds and Kalen Garry dished out a game-high five assists.
St. Thomas was led in score column by Anthony's 21 points. He was joined in double digits by Drake Dobbs (18), Blue (17) and Brooks Allen (11).
SDSU's one-point victory was the first win for the Jackrabbits this season in results determined by one possession. SDSU previously lost to UCF on Nov. 19 (83-80), George Mason the following day (73-71) and Weber State just over a week ago on Jan. 3 (75-73).
The Jackrabbits' victory ended a nine-game home win streak for St. Thomas.

Up Next
South Dakota State continues its road trip on Saturday. The Jackrabbits prepare to travel to Denver to face the Pioneers in Hamilton Gymnasium at 2 p.m. CT.

-GoJacks.com-