St. Thomas men’s basketball (5-1, 1-0 MIAC) captured its first MIAC win beating Carleton (1-2, 0-2 MIAC) 74-60 Tuesday night at Schoenecker Arena.

Junior guard Ryan Lindberg ignited the St. Thomas crowd after hitting two three-pointers in a 10 second span during the first half.

Anders Nelson was active on defense with three steals in the first half.

“Anders (Nelson) runs the offense for us, but he also makes some really explosive plays on defense that can get us going in transition,” coach John Tauer said.

The Tommies shot 51% from the field as they led 44-25 at halftime.

“I thought we shared the ball really well in the first half,” Tauer said. “We didn’t capitalize and missed some open threes, but I really liked the way we played.”

Sophomore guard Zach Theisen and senior forward Elijah Hannah had team highs for the Tommies with 13 points each.

“The way we moved the ball and the way my teammates found me when I was open, I think that helped us a lot,” Theisen said.

The Tommies’ largest lead of the game was 28 points with 16 minutes remaining in the second half.

“It’s a joy to coach these guys,” Tauer said. “I think they’re really unselfish, and they play very hard, so if you do those two things, you feel great as a coach working with guys like this.”

The Tommies host Macalester College Wednesday Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.

Joey Swanson can be reached at swan5350@stthomas.edu.