By Missy Grimes

3/9/2025

The Basics
Score: No. 1 Omaha 85, No. 2 St. Thomas 75
Records: Omaha (22-12, 13-3 SL); St. Thomas (24-10, 12-4 SL)
Location: Denny Sanford PREMIER Center – Sioux Falls, S.D.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 1 seed Omaha finished off a regular season and tournament title sweep with an 85-75 victory over No. 2 seed St. Thomas on Sunday in the title game of the 2025 Summit League Championship at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The Mavericks’ first team all-league duo of Marquel Sutton and JJ White delivered once again during a historice season that saw Omaha win its first regular season and postseason titles at the Division I level.

The Mavericks knew they were dancing heading into the game but it did not show as they were on a mission to finish leg three of their first tournament-title run. Sutton, the Summit League Player of the year, finished with 22 points and a championship-game record 18 rebounds, while adding a Championship MVP trophy to his accolades.

White did his part by going 10-for-14 from the field, scoring 29 points and dishing out five assists. Lance Waddles chipped in with 15 points and had 11 of those during a first half that saw both teams threaten to run away and hide.

The Tommies made their first three attempts from beyond the arc to gain an early edge but cooled off after that. Rich Byrhe, who had just three games with multiple triples during the regular season, made two early as the Tommies led 9-5 before White and the Mavericks settled in. White’s second triple of the opening six minutes gave Omaha its first lead of the game at 12-11.

The first of a trio of first-half treys from Waddles sparked a 9-0 run by the Mavericks to put them ahead 21-15 but that spurt was quickly answered by the Tommies. St. Thomas reeled off the next 10 points to reclaim the lead at the 8:21 mark.

Waddles squelched that run with back-to-back makes from deep. The teams would go back-and-forth from there over the next few minutes before Sutton threw down a thunderous dunk and made a driving layup off a Tommies’ turnover to make it a 36-31 contest at the under-4 timeout.

Sutton had a double-double by halftime and Omaha held the Tommies without a field goal over the closing four minutes to extend the lead to 39-33 at the break. Sutton was joined in double-figure scoring during the first half by White and Waddles, who each had 11.

The Tommies cold shooting carried over into the first half as they went scoreless until Kendall Blue made a pair of free throws at the 15:57 mark.

UST’s stretch of missed field goals overlapped the halves and reached 15 straight before a make by Nolan Minessale that was quickly followed by a Ryan Dufault steal and layup that got UST back within 11 at 51-40 with just under 14 minutes to play.

The basket by Minessale, who finished with a team-high 20 points, started a 7-0 run for the Tommies while the Mavericks took a turn with a cold shooting stretch. White snapped that with a driving layup at the 11:54 mark that put Omaha back up by 10.

The Tommies kept charging, pulling to within 57-51 on a jumper by Blue at the 9:19 mark. However, that six-point margin, which the Tommies closed within on four different occasions down the stretch, would be as close as they would get.

The Mavericks will find out their NCAA Tournament destination in a week when the selection show airs next Sunday on CBS at 5 p.m. CT.

Turning Point
Waddles scored 11 key points in the first half and his second of back-to-back three-pointers during a 47-second stretch gave Omaha a lead and the Mavericks were threatened but never trailed again.

All-Tournament Team
Miles Barnstable, St. Thomas
Kendall Blue, St. Thomas
Treysen Eaglestaff, North Dakota
Marquel Sutton, Omaha (MVP)
JJ White, Omaha

Inside the Box Score

• Sutton had his second double-double of the tournament and eighth of the season, finishing with 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. His rebound total was a Summit League Championship title game record.
• White finished with his seventh 20-plus point game of the season, which have all come since Jan. 11.
• Minessale’s team-high 20 points marked the third time during his rookie season he eclipsed that total.
• Sutton’s 18 rebounds helped Omaha hold a 42-31 edge on the glass

News & Notes

• Omaha, picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll finished off the regular season and tournament title sweep, earning the program’s first titles in both.
• St. Thomas finished with 24 wins, which were the most during the program’s four-year transition to the Division I level.
• The Mavericks are the first team besides North Dakota State, Oral Roberts or South Dakota State to win the postseason event since former member Oakland won the 2011 title.

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COURTESY SUMMIT LEAGUE COMMUNICATIONS