The St. Thomas Tommies entered their game against defending Summit League champion Oral Roberts on Thursday night at Schoenecker Arena well aware that the regular-season conference title is still very much within their grasp.

By game’s end, they had made an emphatic statement that they’re in it to win it.

Playing what coach Johnny Tauer said was their most complete game of the season, the Tommies steamrolled the Golden Eagles, 85-63.

They led by 30 points early in the second half before Tauer went deep into his bench, with Parker Bjorklund leading the way with 19 points and seven rebounds. Kendall Blue scored 18 points.

The win kept the Tommies  (16-9, 6-4 Summit) within a game of first-place North Dakota with less than a month to play.

“I think these guys do a really good job of focusing on what we can control,” Tauer said. “It’s fun for fans to scoreboard watch. Honestly, we don’t even look at it. I don’t even know the conference standings. I know it’s all bunched up.

“It’s just, let us keep getting better. We want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”

Their latest victory represents their most complete to date.

“We’ve had some first halves that that been really explosive — at Western Michigan, at North Dakota — but I was really proud of these guys because the first half I thought we played exceptionally well,” Tauer said. “Then the second half, we stretched the lead out.

“They’re the kind of team that, if they hit a couple 3s in a row and it’s back to 12 or 14, you’re in a ballgame. In terms of a complete  game — offensively, defensively, our energy. So yeah, really thrilled.”

Oral Roberts (11-12, 5-5) came into the game on a three-game winning streak, led by leading scorer Isaac McBride (20.8 points per game). Tommies senior Drake Dobbs drew the assignment of trying to slow McBride down, and he limited him to 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

“There are a lot of prolific scorers in this conference and he’s certainly one of them,” Tauer said. “I think he put 34 up the other day. He can make tough shots, he can score at every level. Drake, all year, has been an unsung hero for us.

“He doesn’t shoot the ball very often; he’s willing to do whatever it takes. I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a guy who is as focused and locked in every possession on defense.”

The Tommies got the jump on the Golden Eagles from the start, taking a 10-2 lead, with Bjorklund accounting for eight of the points — all on drives to the basket. The Tommies’ first seven baskets were all scored in the paint.

Three-point specialist Carter Bjerke then entered the game, and when he connected on back-to-back 3-pointers the Tommies owned 21-8 lead. The Tommies continued to build on that lead, and when Ben Nau drilled a 3, the Tommies were up by 20, at 41-21.

The Tommies’ lead grew to 24 points late in the first half before they took a 52-31 lead to the locker room. They never let the Golden Eagles get any kind of momentum in the second half and will take a load of momentum into their game at Denver on Saturday.

“The last couple weeks we’ve talked a lot about having joy for each other,” Tauer said. “The basketball season is long; these guys are in the weight room, they’re in class. Their days are full, and it’s easy to get tired.

“We’ve talked about it more the last couple weeks, not because we weren’t doing a good job. Sometimes it is important to bring it more to the forefront.”