Senior Tommy Anderson scored a career-high 20 points and helped the host Tommies outscore third-place Augsburg 45-9 from 3-point range in Wednesday night's 101-60 St. Thomas win in MIAC men's basketball at Schoenecker Arena.

Five scored in double figures for No. 7-ranked St. Thomas (16-2 overall, 12-1 MIAC, who pushed its win streak to five. The second-place Purple opened a three-game lead over Augsburg for second place, 1.5 games back of leader St. John's (14-0).

St. Thomas senior Elijah Hannah added 15 points, Anders Nelson had 12 points and five assists, Burt Hedstrom had 12 points, and Riley Miller had 10 points and five assists.

With seven games left in the regular season, the Purple can secure the program's 21st consecutive MIAC playoff berth with one more win or one St. Olaf loss. The Toms play Saturday at Gustavus.

The Toms shot 57 percent from the floor, made 10-of-10 free throws and had only two turnovers in the first half as they built a 59-38 lead at the break. After falling behind 7-2 in the opening 2:30, St. Thomas built a 26-point lead in the final 2:30 of the half.

On the contest, St. Thomas made 15-of-33 from 3-point range and converted 14-of-15 foul shots while shooting 55 percent from the field.

Augsburg (13-5, 9-4) made just 3-of-23 from behind the arc, with all the made threes coming in the first half. All-America Booker Coplin played 30 minutes and had 18 points to lead the Auggies.

It was the fifth meeting between these teams in the last 13 months but the first time the home team was victorious after two road wins by each school in the previous four games.