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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Evan Wanner received the puck in the neutral zone and raced across the blue line, with the championship on his stick, the junior forward produced a moment of magic that will last a lifetime.

Wanner’s shot whizzed past Minnetonka goaltender Chase Jerdee, and mayhem ensued as he sprinted the length of the ice to the Spuds student section. He ripped off his helmet and hurled it into the crowd, having just secured Moorhead’s second consecutive state title.

The Spuds withstood an offensive onslaught from the Skippers and prevailed in the Class AA state championship Saturday night at Grand Casino Arena.

Moorhead’s offense came into the night scoring 5.83 goals per game. The Spuds needed that production and then some to recover from a three-goal third-period deficit.

Moorhead entered in search of back-to-back Class AA titles after coming up short in all eight of its trips to the championship game before 2025. Minnetonka arrived as winners of eight straight state tournament games, having won the championship in each of its last two appearances: 2018 and 2023.

The Spuds put themselves behind the eight ball because of a Drew Kortan penalty for cross-checking, which took place after the whistle. It resulted in a Skippers’ power play 1:16 into the title game.

Minnetonka capitalized on the early gift on a Danny Browning cross-ice pass to Jordan Johnson, who placed the puck into a wide-open left side of the net.

The Skippers scored a second midway through the first period via Ethan Sturgis, whose shot a foot above the goal line slid right through the legs of Will Arnold.

Skippers’ sophomore Cash Hardie skated into the zone, gliding left, and whipped a shot toward the far corner that beat the glove of Arnold. Minnetonka, 11 minutes into the championship, had lit the lamp three times on seven shots.

An efficient, clinical start to the night for Minnetonka, while it took until the 8:37 mark in the first period for Moorhead to get its second shot on goal.

The Spuds were handed a lifeline early in the second period as Sturgis went into the box for hooking. On the power play, Joey Cullen fired a quick cross-ice pass to Zac Zimmerman for a Grade-A chance he could not convert, hitting side netting, and the Skippers killed off the penalty.

Undaunted by the deficit, Moorhead’s Max Cullen probed the Skippers’ defense, played a pass back to Tyden Bergeson, who ripped a shot on net. Jerdee was unable to squeeze the shot, saw it sit in the crease, where Michael Herman’s quick stick slapped it home halfway through the second period.

The Spuds’ glimmer of hope was short-lived as the Skippers added to their tally before the frame concluded.

Hardie chipped it into the slot where Max Aronson was wide open and zipped it by Arnold to restore Minnetonka’s three-goal lead with 1:26 to go in the second period.

The Skippers were their own worst enemy in closing out the title game, as Liam Schultz was penalized for roughing with 11:00 to play in the contest.

Moorhead quickly shifted the puck around Minnetonka. It was Bergeson whose backdoor pass cut open the Skippers’ defense as Joey Cullen swept it into an open net for the Spuds’ first power-play goal of the tournament.

Momentum had completely shifted as Moorhead sustained extensive offensive zone pressure as the clock ticked under 7:00 in the championship. It was a shot from the point by Brandon Mickelson that got rerouted out in front by Zimmerman’s stick, giving Jerdee no chance and pulling the Spuds within a goal.

The Skippers handed Moorhead a prime opportunity to complete the comeback with its second penalty of the period, as Cameron Merrick was penalized for hooking.

The Spuds did not score on the power play, but after pulling Arnold with 1:37 to go, Moorhead cashed in via Zimmerman, who slotted home the tying goal with 35.6 seconds left, his second of the game.

Both teams managed three shots on goal in overtime, but did not do enough to beat either goaltender, so a full-intermission and ice resurfacing took place before double overtime.

Jerdee was tested twice in the first three minutes of the second overtime and answered the bell with two crucial saves.

Evan Wanner walked off the Class AA state championship in double overtime with a swift wrister past Jerdee, returning Moorhead to the summit of Minnesota high school hockey.

The only other time in state tournament history both state title games went into overtime was in 2011. In Class AA, Eden Prairie defeated Duluth East, 3-2, in triple overtime, and in Class A, St. Thomas Academy bested Hermantown, 5-4, in overtime.

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For senior night festivities, Gophers guard Langston Reynolds was joined on the Williams Arena court pregame Saturday by his mother, Shaunta Reynolds, his diminutive “auntie,” his kid brother, older brother and his brother’s fiancé.

“It’s going to be a very emotional moment,” Reynolds told the Pioneer Press on Friday.

Reynolds, a one-year transfer from Northern Colorado, channeled those feelings in the second half against Northwestern, scoring nine straight points to open up a 48-34 lead and made a crucial go-ahead lay-up with 11 seconds left for a 67-66 win at The Barn.

Minnesota (15-16, 8-12 Big Ten) continued to battle with a rotation of only six players and swept the Wildcats (13-18, 5-15).

Minnesota will have a seed between 11 and 13 at the Big Ten tournament in Chicago next week; they will play on Wednesday. Northwestern  was playing to avoid a spot the bottom four seeds and a Tuesday game.

Bobby Durkin, who was playing hurt, hit a 3-pointer to extend Minnesota’s lead to 58-48 with nine minutes left.

But Wildcats all-Big Ten wing Nick Martinelli scored eight of the next 10 for Northwestern to cut it to 61-58 with four minutes to go.

Reynolds made two free throws, Martinelli hit a jumper and Jordan Clayton hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to make it 64-63 with 1:34 remaining.

Angelo Caaravino made two free throws and Martinelli missed a free throw. Reynolds grabbed the defensive rebound and went coast to coast and laid it in for a 67-66 lead with 11 seconds.

Martinelli missed a three on the final possession and the Wildcats couldn’t get off another shot.

In the first half, the Gophers led by as many as 16  and 10 at the half. Minnesota shot 65% from the field in opening 20 minutes to take a 39-29 lead.

Isaac Asuma led the U with 11 points, with Cade Tyson contributing 10 and Durkin nine.

The Gophers beat Northwestern 84-78 in December in Evanston, Ill. Martinelli had a game-high 26 points in the defeat.

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The St. Thomas men’s hockey team left Game 2 of their CCHA playoff quarterfinal in doubt until late before exploding for three goals in the final three minutes of the third period to defeat Lake Superior State 5-2 Saturday night at the Lee & Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul.

It was a 2-2 tie game at 15:48 of the final frame before the second-seeded Tommies decided they’d had enough of the pesky Lakers by launching a blitzkrieg to eliminate the seventh-seeded visitors from the postseason and advance to the Mason Cup semifinals.

St. Thomas never trailed in the game, scoring first on a Colton Jameson tally just two minutes into the game before LSSU knotted the game at 1-all into the first intermission. After an earlier goal was waived off, Lucas Wahlin scored one that counted at 10:41 of the second as the Tommies took a 2-1 edge into the third.

The Lakers were not about to go quietly into the capital city night, drawing even after nearly 16 minutes of scoreless third-period play and sending a cold shudder though the home crowd.

But there would be little drama left for the favored hosts as Lucas Van Vliet put the home side up for good approximately 90 seconds later. Wahlin added his second of the night 45 seconds after that for a 4-2 lead before LSSU pulled goalie Roke Applebee, who made 38 saves, and Van Vliet took advantage of the empty net to promptly pump in his second of the contest and end matters with a sudden three-goal victory.

Tommies netminder Carsen Musser made 27 saves as his team now moves on to a single-elimination semifinal next Saturday against a yet-to-be determined opponent.

Third-seeded Augustana and No. 4 seed Michigan Tech also won their best-of-three quarterfinal matchups in two-game sweeps. However, Eighth-seeded Ferris State upset top-seeded Minnesota State 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night to force a winner-take-all third game on Sunday. If the Mavericks overcome their upset-minded rivals in Game 3, the Tommies will host Augustana; if the Bulldogs are able to finish off a stunner in Mankato, St. Thomas will inherit the top seed and host Michigan Tech.

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