Thomas Scores 33 as Men's Basketball Comes Back to Defeat Dakota State
Madison, SD – The Hastings College men’s basketball team fell behind by eight points at halftime but was able to battle its way back to defeat Dakota State 72-65 on Saturday evening.
Madison, SD – The Hastings College men's basketball team fell behind by eight points at halftime but was able to battle its way back to defeat Dakota State 72-65 on Saturday evening.
DSU may have had the lead but the Broncos were able to erase the deficit as Reggie Thomas buried back-to-back threes and then eventually tied the game at 39 following buckets from Grady Corrigan and Danilo Matovic with 17:02 to go and then the game was on.
From this point the teams traded buckets and free throws until it was all tied at 54 with just over 7:00 to play. Following a turnover, Thomas found Corrigan for a jumper and following another Trojan turnover, Thomas again connected with Corrigan for the bucket as HC now led 58-54 with just under 6:00 to go.
Both teams then traded empty possessions until Tyrique McMurrin got fouled and made both free throws as the Broncos had just a little bit of breathing room until DSU's Uzo Dibiamaka drained back-to-back threes to tie the game right back up a 60 a piece with 3:05 left in regulation.
McMurrin then found Thomas for the tough layup and the harm. Before Thomas took the free throw, HC called a timeout to talk things over. Thomas then came out and calmly finished the old fashioned three point play and the 63-60 lead. DSU picked up a free throw from Mison Coilton but Anthony Thompson would drain another huge three with 1:35 left to give the Broncos a 66-61 lead.
After the teams traded free throws, Dakota State had a chance to make it a one possession game but Japjit Gill would miss the front end of a one-and-one which allowed Corrigan to go to the line and all but ice the game with two free throws with :42 to go as HC now led 69-63.
DSU came up empty on the offensive end again and Thomas would get fouled and make his free throws as Hastings came from behind once again to claim the 72-65 victory.
Thomas had another big time game scoring a game high 33 points on 9-of-18 shooting, 4-for-5 from downtown and was 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. Corrigan added 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. While Quinn Johnson and Matovic each finished with six points. McMurrin added five points while Thompson and Nolan Sughroue finished with four a piece.
Hastings finished the game shooting 43.4 percent (23-for-53) while the Trojans shot 44.6 percent (25-for-56). Rebounding was even at 32 each but it was the charity stripe where the game was decided as HC was 19-for-22 while DSU was just 6-of-10. Corrigan led the way with seven boards.
Hastings improves to 10-2 (6-0) and will be back in action Monday Dec. 18 taking part in the Big Island Classic and will play Hawaii-Hilo in an exhibition match as tipoff is set for 10:00 pm CST in Hilo, HI.
