Drake Dobbs’ third consecutive 20-point scoring game paced St. Thomas men’s basketball to a 95-84 win over Omaha Feb. 15, handing the Tommies (20-7, 10-2 Summit League) sole possession of first place in the conference standings with four games to play.
The win pushed the Purple to 20 on the season, the ninth season under head coach Johnny Tauer with as many victories. St. Thomas is the only team to transition to Division I and record at least 19 wins in three straight seasons and is one of three transition teams with back-to-back 20-win seasons.
University of St. Thomas photographer Mark Brown was at Schoenecker Arena to capture the excitement.
The student section. St. Thomas has now won 20 games in a season nine times under head coach Johnny Tauer.Drake Dobbs, who had never scored more than 19 points prior to Feb. 6, tied a career-high 23 points as part of three consecutive 20-point games.Nolan Minessale, who added 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting with five assists, three rebounds, two blocks and one steal.The cheer team. St. Thomas led for nearly 35 minutes of game play as the largest and last lead held by Omaha came with over 17 minutes to go in the opening half.Kendall Blue. The Tommies have totaled 69 wins through its transition period, tied for third most among all transition teams since 2000.The student section. The Tommies shot 50.0 percent (15-30) overall over the first 20 minutes to take a 45-34 lead into halftime.Drake Dobbs recorded his seventh game of the season with three assists and no turnovers and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.94 over the last 18 games. St. Thomas won 95-84. Saturday was the second consecutive sold-out crowd in Schoenecker Arena with an attendance of 2,008. It was the third-largest crowd in the facility's history.Tommie the Mascot. Over the past three seasons, St. Thomas has gone 36-4 at home as its .900 winning percentage ranks among the top 20 in the nation during that span.Drake Dobbs. After scoring 23 points at South Dakota State, Dobbs totaled 21 on Feb. 8 at Denver.Miles Barnstable scored 17 points and added three steals, two blocks, two rebounds and one assist.
