The St. Thomas Men’s basketball team cruised to a 63-46 win over Bethel in the MIAC tournament semifinals on Friday night at Schoenecker Arena.

St. Thomas coach John Tauer feels it was defense that carried the Tommies (24-2 overall, 18-2 conference) to victory.

“I thought our defensive intensity was as good for 40 minutes as it has been all year,” Tauer said. “Our guys were not only locked in on their assignments, but they were also diligent about helping one another. It was not our prettiest offensive game, but I think the energy we had on defense really carried us through.”

Senior forward Ryan Saarela led the way defensively for St. Thomas with three blocked shots and two steals to go along with his 10 points.

“If we play well defensively, we feel like we can beat any team,” Saarela said. “We did a great job helping each other in order to shut Bethel down.”

Defense played a major role in the contest, with the Tommies only able to make one basket from the field in the first eight minutes of the game.

The contest was tight for the first 13 minutes, but with the score 14-14, the Tommies went on a 12-5 run to close the half. Three of Bethel’s points during that stretch came on a 3-point basket at the buzzer, which put the Tommies up 26-19 at halftime.

St. Thomas took control of the game at the start of the second half, coming out of the break on a 13-0 run, helped largely by rebounding.

“I think the offensive and defensive rebounds were key against an incredibly well-coached and tough team like Bethel in a playoff atmosphere,” Tauer said, “A lot of guys off the bench, Cullen Ogren and Jimmy Remke in particular, I thought the job they did on the was instrumental in keeping our lead at a comfortable level.”

Bethel (18-2 overall, 12-8 conference) was able to battle back and cut the Tommie lead to 48-37 with 5:59 left in the game before senior Taylor Montero made a 3-pointer. St. Thomas immediately got a stop on defense followed by a Montero 2-point basket, increasing the lead to 16 and ultimately putting the game out of reach as St. Thomas cruised to the 63-46 victory.

Montero credited his 15-point game to the Tommie defense.

“We learned after the Augsburg loss that we can’t always outscore teams, and we need to make stops,” Montero said. “If we can make stops, we get more opportunities like we did tonight; we will win.”

The Tommies advanced to the MIAC championship game with the win. Tauer is excited for the opportunity to play for a championship against the Oles.

“We have had a number of incredibly good games against St. Olaf. They are incredibly well-coached, and they are really tough,” Tauer said. “It’s going to be an incredible atmosphere. I hope everyone gets here early because it is one of those special days in MIAC basketball and we are thrilled to be a part of it.”

Taylor Smith can be reached at smit9660@stthomas.edu.