LINCOLN, Nebraska — Sophomore guard Ryan Lindberg’s 24 points and five rebounds helped the St. Thomas men’s basketball team defeat the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse 80-64 in the first round of the 2019 NCAA tournament Friday at Snyder Arena.

The Tommies (22-4 overall) held the lead against the Eagles (19-7 overall) with solid defense and long scoring runs.

“(I’m) thrilled to get a victory over in the national tournament,” coach John Tauer said. “I thought tonight our guys came out with great energy.”

Both teams battled at the start of the game, but the Tommies’ hot three-point shooting allowed them to go on a 14-4 run, giving them a 45-33 lead. Lindberg and senior forward Connor Bair led the team at the half with a combined 20 points.

“It felt great,” Bair said. “It was good to be out there with these guys.”

The Tommies continued their dominance into the second half with a 11-3 run that pushed the advantage to 20, their largest of the night. Despite the Eagles constantly attempting a run, the Tommies’ strong defense made it difficult. Lindberg scored 15 points and grabbed three rebounds in the second half.

“It was obviously a lot of fun,” Lindberg said. “It was nice to see the ball go through the hoop.”

Lindberg credited the team’s success to the captains’ leadership.

“They’ve all been in this situation before so they did a nice job at practice, kind of preparing us for (this game) making sure we played the best basketball that we have played all year,” Lindberg said.

Tauer was happy with the win, but his focus moved to enjoying the second round game against the nation’s No. 1 team, Nebraska Wesleyan.

“Obviously teams like Eureka and Wesleyan are teams that we haven’t played,” Tauer said. “We’re excited to watch (this game) tonight and get the guys rested, it’ll be a late night.”

The Tommies will play Saturday at 7.

Matthew Curry can be reached at curr1523@stthomas.edu.