Sophomore guard Grant Shaeffer scored a career-best 22 points and sparked a late comeback as No. 13-ranked St. Thomas scored a 78-74 victory over visiting UW-Eau Claire in Sunday's non-conference men's basketball game at Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies (1-0) erased a 13-point second-half deficit. They made 8-of-12 free throws in the final 2:24 for a game-closing 8-4 run after the game was tied 70-70.

St. Thomas was outscored 30-12 from 3-point range but outscored the Blugolds 26-6 at the foul line. UST also had 13 offensive boards and outrebounded UWEC 31-20.

Senior center Conner Nord had 17 points and 11 rebounds; junior guard Cortez Tillman added 16 points; and junior forward Taylor Montero had nine points and six rebounds. Senior guard Marcus Alipate struggled shooting from the field but contributed four assists and three steals.

Shaeffer made all six of his second-half shots and finished 8-for-10 on the day.

In the first 18 minutes of the opening half, Eau Claire (0-1) made 8-of-9 from 3-point range and shot 76 percent en route to a 48-37 halftime lead. The Blugolds shot 62 percent on the game but scored just 26 points in the second half.

Nord made two free throws with 1:03 left to put UST ahead 74-72. Montero and Shaeffer made three of the next six foul shots for a 77-72 lead with 16 seconds left, but Tillman needed to make the second of two tries with nine seconds to go to regain the four-point cushion.

St. Thomas travels to Washington state this week to face Whitman on Thursday and No. 17-ranked Whitworth on Saturday.