Junior guard Sean Sweeney scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half, including eight in a game-closing 14-8 run to lead the host Tommies (17-8) to an 81-75 victory over Carleton (17-10) in Thursday night's MIAC men's basketball semifinal playoff game before 1,100 fans on the Tommies' floor.
The second-seeded Toms will face top-seed Gustavus Saturday night in St. Peter for the championship, The winner gets a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Gusties won their 17th in a row with a 65-49 win over fourth-seed Bethel. It will be the fifth Gustie-Tommie title game meeting in playoff history.
Sophomore Isaac Rosefelt had 20 points and 15 rebounds and soph Bryan Schnettler had 22 points and seven assists off the bench for the Toms, who shot 52% from the field (30-of-58) and tied their season high for 3-pointers made as they sank 13-of-26.
St. Thomas, coming off an eight-day layoff, had a 33-0 advantage in bench points over the Knights, where were playing their fourth game in nine days. UST had a 41-36 rebounding edge and survived 15 turnovers.
Senior forward Kyle Beste had a game-high 30 points, and freshman forward Tommy Drake added 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists for Carleton, who had only five turnovers but made just 4-of-17 from 3-point range. Junior Dan Forkrud had 16 points and now has 1,002 on his career.
The Toms led 25-14 in the first half and 37-30 at halftime. Beste scored eight points during a 20-11 run that tied the game at 50-50. The Knights, who had a pair of two-point leads in the see-saw second half, pulled even at 67-67 with 3:49 left on Beste's layup.
But Sweeney answered with a 3-pointer and another basket for 72-69 lead. After Forkrud's steal and layup cut the margin to 72-71 with 2:04 left, Sweeney sank his fifth 3-pointer for a 75-71 lead with 1:39 to go. The Toms made only 4-of-9 free throws down the stretch but were able to hold on to move to 10-1 at home this season.
Sweeney, who added eight assists, avenged a 1-for-15 shooting game in a Jan. 22 overtime loss to the Knights. The Toms are 7-0 this season when he scores 14 or more points.
It was the fourth all-time playoff meeting between St. Thomas and Carleton with all decided in overtime or in the final minute.