University of St. Thomas opened their new $52 million dollar facility on Tuesday evening by hosting the Falcons men's basketball team. The Falcons were within inches of spoiling the opener in the new Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex as they came up short 65-60 to suffer their first loss of the season.
Jake Voeltz (River Falls, River Falls HS) scored a career-best 26 points while grabbing a team-high seven boards in the losing effort. Voeltz hit 10-17 from the field, while going 6-7 from the free throw line. The senior scored 16 in the second half and also picked up all five of his offensive rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
The Falcons had a chance to pull the upset as they grabbed the lead with 1:18 to play when Jontae Koonkaew (Apple Valley, MN, Apple Valley HS) hit a three-pointer to put the Falcons ahead 60-59. As the clock ticked away the Tommies came through in the clutch by creating turnovers and making their free throws. In the final minute, St. Thomas was 6-6 from the line, while River Falls turned the ball over twice resulting in a 65-60 Tommie victory.
Trailing for over 33 minutes, the Falcons continued to chip away at the lead which got as high as 16 points in the second half. The Falcons comeback attempt was triggered by a 17-5 run in which they created four turnovers and out-rebounded the Tommies 4-1. In the second half, the Falcons were a different team as they outscored St. Thomas 38-33 while grabbing 14 points from their bench and putting in 12 off of second chances.
UT Udo (Apple Valley, MN, U. of Mary) scored all nine of his points during the final 10 minutes, while adding a team-high four assists. Shane Manor (Altoona, UW-Superior) added nine points, five rebounds and three assists as the Falcons came up short in the final minute.
This marks the first loss of the young season for the Falcons as they drop to 3-1 and St. Thomas improves to 4-0. The Tommies are ranked 13th in the nation as they have amassed a 53-5 record over the last two years, while winning five straight MIAC titles. This was also the long-awaited homecoming for the Tommies as they have not played on campus since 2008-09 due to the construction of the facility.
The Falcons will travel to Lonestar state over the Thanksgiving weekend where they will play Southwestern University (Tex.) on Friday and St. Thomas (Tex.) on Saturday. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. both days.
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