A foul and a free throw with 0.1 seconds remaining propelled third-seeded North Dakota to a 67-66 victory over No. 2 seed St. Thomas in the Summit League men’s basketball semifinals Saturday night, ending the Tommies’ season far earlier than hoped.
With the game tied at 66 in the closing moments, a wayward pass by Tommies guard Austin Herro from under the basket was intercepted by Fighting Hawks guard Eli King. With less than five seconds remaining in regulation, King and teammate George Natsvlishvili stormed up the court in hopes of a buzzer-beating shot.
King passed to Natsvlishvili in the lane, where he was fouled by Tommies guard Carter Bjerke with the last tick of the clock remaining. Natsvlishvili went to the line, sank his first attempt from the stripe to all-but end the game.
A Hail Mary cross-court pass from forward Ben Oosterban sailed over the opposing basket out of bounds. Seconds later, North Dakota inbounded the ball as players and fans inside the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. set off on a raucous celebration as St. Thomas players walked slump-shoulders off the court.
The Tommies led the game 34-28 at halftime, still held a 54-48 edge with 8:38 to play. But consecutive unanswered three-pointers by North Dakota evened the score with just over seven minutes remaining to set off a dogfight for the remainder of the contest.
The Fighting Hawks held a three-point lead with 2:38 to go, but the Tommies clawed back to tie on a guard Nolan Minessale layup with 49 seconds remaining. A steal by Minessale’s backcourt mate Nick Janowski with 23 seconds left on the clock led to a St. Thomas timeout to set up what was hoped to be the final shot of the game.
But it was not to be, as 22-plus seconds after that, North Dakota made the game-deciding plays to advance to the Summit championship game against rival North Dakota State — the conference regular-season champions — on Sunday. The Fighting Hawks enter that game with an 18-16 record, the Bison are 26-7.
For St. Thomas, it was a back-breaking way to end a season with much higher aspirations after a second-place finish in the regular season. Minessale led the team with 23 points and nine rebounds, Oosterban chipping in 16 points with five rebounds. Janowski contributed eight boards, while Herro led the squad with seven assists. All five starters had at least five rebounds apiece in the contest. The Tommies conclude the 2025-26 campaign with a 24-9 overall record.
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