The Green Bay Phoenix men hosted St. Thomas at the Kress Center on Friday night for its home opener, but came up short to the Tommies, losing 90-76.
Green Bay got off to a quick start, on a pair of Anthony Roy buckets at the rim, before both teams started exchanging buckets. Roy made his first 3 of the game with 16:05 to give Green Bay an 11-8, which St. Thomas was able to chip away into and ultimately take the lead for good with 15:18 left in the 1st half.
St. Thomas was able to build the lead up through the half, before Green Bay would chip into it before another Tommies run. St. Thomas got the lead up to 19, going into the break leading 54-35. The Phoenix struggled from the floor, shooting just 9-29, and 5-20 from behind the arc. As much as Green Bay struggled, the Tommies flourished. St. Thomas was 20-33 with 30 points in the paint.
St. Thomas started the half on a 5-0 run, to build the lead to 24, which would be the largest lead of the game. Green Bay was slowly but surely, able to cut into the lead. C.J. O’Hara stepped up in the half, scoring 9 of his 10 points to fuel a comeback attempt, including the basket that brought the deficit back to single digits.
Unfortunately for the Phoenix, that is the closest Green Bay would get. In the loss, Green Bay was able to get their shooting percentage up to 41% for the game, led by Roy’s game-high 24 points. Marcus Hall was able to reach double figures as well, finishing with 17 points. Sheboygan native Miles Barnstable led the way for the Tommies with 23 points in the win.
Doug Gottlieb spoke with us after the game, which you can see below. Green Bay is back in action on Wednesday, hitting the road against Western Illinois. Tipoff is set for 7pm CT.
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