The Tommies’ season ended earlier than expected with a foul and a free throw as third-seeded North Dakota State beat second-seeded St. Thomas 67-66 with 0.1 seconds left in the Summit League men’s basketball semifinals on Saturday night.
At the last moment of the game, the two sides were tied at 66. Tommies guard Austin Herro passed the ball from the basket and was intercepted by Warhawks guard Eli King. With less than five seconds left in the game, King and teammate Giorgi Nazvilishvili rushed the court in hopes of hitting a buzzer-beating shot.
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King passed a pass to Natsvlishvili in the penalty area and was fouled by Tommies defender Kat Bjek with just one minute remaining. Natsvlishvili stepped to the free throw line and sank the first try, all but ending the game.
Forward Ben Oosterban’s Hail Mary hit a cross-court pass over the opponent’s basket and out of bounds. Seconds later, North Dakota State took an inbounds kick and players and fans inside the Danny Sanford Senior Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, began a raucous celebration while St. Thomas players walked off the court with slumped shoulders.
The Tommies led 34-28 at halftime and still led 54-48 with 8:38 left in the game. But North Dakota hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game with just over seven minutes remaining, setting up a slugfest for the rest of the game.
The Fighting Eagles led by three points with 2:38 left in the game, but the Tommies tied the game on a layup by guard Nolan Minesale with 49 seconds left. With 23 seconds left, Minesel’s backcourt partner Nick Janowski got a steal that led to a St. Thomas timeout that set up the game’s final shot.
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But it wasn’t to be, and just over 22 seconds after that, North Dakota State hit a game-clinching field goal to advance to Sunday’s Summit Championship game against rival North Dakota State, the conference’s regular-season champion. The Fighting Eagles enter this game with an 18-16 record, while the Bison sit at 26-7.
It’s a heartbreaking way for St. Thomas to end the season with higher expectations after finishing second in the regular season. Minesel scored a team-high 23 points and 9 rebounds, and Osterban scored 16 points and 5 rebounds. Janowski contributed eight rebounds, while Herro led the team with seven assists. All five starters each had at least five rebounds in the game. The Tommies finish the 2025-26 season with an overall record of 24-9.
