After sweeping 10 of 10 regular season MIAC championships in the playoff era, plus 6 of 10 playoff championships, St. Thomas slumped all the way to 5th last year, then lost at Augsburg in the 1st round of the playoffs. A bounce back in 2019 is anticipated, but how far back? The coaches thought only to #4 in their pre-season poll.
Well, I don't know how good Brooklyn is, and neither do you. But, I'm sure the Tommies had planned on a win in their season opener out east as a first step in that bounce back. It didn't happen. Brooklyn scored on a last-second outback to win 78-77, negating a 7-2 St. Thomas rally to take the lead with 14 ticks left on the clock.
The Tommies started a lineup of 6-5, 6-5, 6-3, 6-2 and 6-0, and its fair to say a lack of size was a bit of a problem. Brooklyn outscored them 40-30 in the paint and 18-5 on 2nd chances, including the game-winner.
Senior 6-2 guard Michael Hannon (Cretin) led the Tommies with 15 points, while 6-3 sophomore guard Ryan Lindberg (Wayzata) added 12 and 4 assists. The 5th starter was freshman 6-0 guard Anders Nelson (Edina) who scored 9 points. Tommies coach Johnny Tauer also gave significant minutes to guards Burt Hedstrom (Minnetonka), Steffan Musoke (Rogers) and Riley Miller (Eden Prairie) off the bench. Hedstrom may have been the Tommies' most effective player with 12 points and 8 boards. If you're gonna play 3 guards and give up size every night, you better find the right guards, eh?
Again, I have no idea how good Brooklyn is and how significant this game is as a predictor of the Tommies' potential for 2019. But, a win would have been nice.
Player of the Day--Burt Hedstrom, St. Thomas
Team of the Day--The Augsburg women opened with a win, so I'll slot them in here. Not that they broke a sweat. The final was Augsburg 94 Crown 25. So it's hard to say how good Augsburg really is. But I'll say this. They are deep. Nobody is that deep. Their top 3 scorers--Aiza Wilson, Nicole Zielsdorf and Selena Lor--came off the bench. Their 11th player had 4 points and 3 boards. They're deep.
Coach of the Day--Ted Riverso, Augsburg women. The Auggies have finished 7th, 6th and 6th in Riverso's 3 years at the helm. They will finish higher than that in 2019, maybe a bunch higher.
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