After opening conference play 1-1, the Idaho Vandals’ men’s basketball team welcomed St. Thomas University into the ICCU Arena. The Tommies came into the game 10-5 and were one of the best opponents the Vandals had faced up to this point.
The Tommies flexed their experience and talent as they left the ICCU arena with a 75-67 win over the Vandals. The long trip did not seem to bother them as St. Thomas came out hot, knocking down three straight three-pointers, and with some help from the Vandal’s early fouls, the Tommies jumped out to a 16-7 lead.
With senior guard D’Angelo Minnis picking up two quick fouls, the Vandals turned to guards redshirt freshman Titus Yearout and junior EJ Neal for a spark, and they did not disappoint. The pair scored the following seven Vandal points and cut the lead to 19-14.
The Tommies continued to stretch the lead with seven minutes left in the first half as they went up 29-21. The Vandals, however, went on a 6-0 run in the next two minutes to cut the lead to 29-28 heading into the last five minutes of the half.
The Vandals’ hard work finally paid off as they took the lead for the first time in the game with three minutes left in the half, pumping up the crowd and the players. The Tommies got the last laugh, however, as with 29 seconds left, graduate guard Raheem Anthony drilled a three-pointer, the team’s ninth of the half, to take a narrow 38-36 lead into halftime.
Both teams shot the ball efficiently and made for an exciting first half. St. Thomas finished the half going 11-for-29 from the field, 9-for-23 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
The Vandals finished 12-for-28 from the field, 4-for-11 from three, and 8-for-9 from the free-throw line. The Tommies came out on a 7-0 run and pushed the once two-point lead to 45-36, forcing Idaho to call a timeout. Head Coach Alex Pribble spoke postgame on the slow start, “I was proud of the response our guys had the next play mentality, which is something we preach a lot. But we cannot start games or halves that way, and we need to be better out of the locker room.”
A jumper by freshman forward Takai Hardy got the Vandals on the board in the second half and cut into the Tommies’ lead. St. Thomas kept pushing their lead out, and the Vandals kept fighting back with the same heart and mentality they had shown all season.
With the Tommies leading 57-47, the Vandals needed something to go in to keep the game close. Idaho responded by going on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 57-53. The Vandals would get some much-needed defensive stops, and they had the chance to cut the game to one possession.
Minnis dribbled to the left, and he started to lose balance. Before he did, Minnis dished the ball to redshirt junior Terren Frank and Frank drove the ball right at the Tommie defense. Frank fought through contact and made a layup, plus the foul.
Frank missed the free throw, and the game remained 57-55. The Tommies followed the miss with a three-pointer to push their lead to five. From there, St. Thomas’s experience took over and they closed out the Vandals 75-67 to get their fourth consecutive win.
The Tommies were led by a two-headed monster who accounted for 31 of their 75 points. Senior guard Drake Dobbs led the Tommies with 16 points and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Kendall Blue added 15 points to help the Tommies get the win.
Despite the loss, the Vandals had a huge bounce-back game from junior forward Juice Mims, who finished the game with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Head coach Alex Pribble spoke on his bounce-back game.
“The tough part about Juice’s last game was that he got into foul trouble early and could never find a rhythm. Juice is a great player. He plays the game with so much passion and energy, and our guys feed off of that, and the beauty about Juice is he is only going to get better.”
Frank helped Juice out with 16 points of his own. However, the injuries, foul trouble and inexperience cost the Vandals dearly, and the loss dropped them to below .500 with a 7-8 record.
The Vandals, because of early foul trouble and struggles from the guard play, Yearout played the most minutes in his Vandal career and had seven points in 25 minutes. Yearout talked about that postgame.
“Individually, I have the next man up mentality and being always ready; you never know when your number could be called, so I was ready, and I came out and just gave them my all out there.”
The Vandals will get a break as their next game is in conference play. They will host 7-7 Eastern Washington on Jan. 13 at 5 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss25