Blue scores 21, St. Thomas beats North Dakota 85-69 in Summit League Tournament

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Kendall Blue had 21 points in St. Thomas' 85-69 victory over North Dakota on Saturday night in the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament.

Blue also had three steals for the Tommies (24-9). Drake Dobbs scored 15 points while going 5 of 5 and 3 of 3 from the free-throw line and added five assists. Carter Bjerke had 15 points and went 6 of 11 from the field (3 for 6 from 3-point range).

The Tommies play Omaha in the championship game on Sunday. but the Mavericks — who won the regular season conference title — already clinched the Summit League's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. St. Thomas is in its final year of postseason ineligibility following the rare jump from Division III.

Eli King led the way for the Fightin' Hawks (12-21) with 15 points and eight rebounds. North Dakota also got 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals from Mier Panoam. Amar Kuljuhovic also recorded 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.

St. Thomas pulled away with a 10-0 run in the second half to extend a seven-point lead to 17 points. They outscored North Dakota by 16 points in the final half, as Blue led the way with a team-high 11 second-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.