The Tommies, who shot 50% from the field to Carleton's 31%, captured their sixth conference playoff crown and secured the automatic berth into the NCAA Division III playoffs.
It's St. Thomas' seventh Division III berth under Coach Steve Fritz, and 15th overall national postseason trip. The Tommies had eight NAIA national appearances from 1949-74.
The No. 2-seeded Knights, playing in just their second MIAC men's hoops playoff title game, had a school-record 17-game winning streak halted. Coach Guy Kalland's players will await Sunday night's announcement of the 59-team field as they have a chance to advance with an at-large bid.
Carleton, which shot under 40% from the field for the first time this season, made just two field goals in the final 16:20. The Knights also struggled at the foul line and made just 10-of-17 free throws, but stayed in the game with 15 offensive rebounds.
Soph Tommy Drake had 14 points to lead the Knights. Senior Dan Forkrud had 11 points and nine rebounds; freshman Zach Johnson had 10 points and eight rebounds; and junior Jake Phillips had six points, four steals and three assists.
The Tommies won despite making just 2-of-6 at the foul line in a game that featured no first-half free throws. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and improved to 11-1 at home this season. They are now 21-0 on the season when they have a better field-goal shooting night than their foes.
Junior guard Bryan Schnettler had 19 points with 5-of-10 from 3-point range. His 14 first-half points carried UST to a 25-23 halftime edge. Junior center Isaac Rosefelt had 12 points and nine rebounds, senior Joey Shimek had eight points and six rebounds; and Sweeney had all nine of his points in the second half. His rainbow 3-pointer with 1:22 left built the lead to 50-43.
Junior Mike Keating had just one basket, but his 3-pointer with 10:42 to go put the Toms ahead to stay at 39-37. That was part of a 16-3 run over an 8:30 stretch as UST built a 45-38 lead.
Mike Kootsakis' 3-point basket with 1:55 left pulled the Knights within 47-43. But Sweeney answered with a long trey as the shot clock was about to expire to push the lead back to seven. Schnettler made both ends of a one-and-one with 53 seconds left to push the lead back to seven.
see" class="red" rel=nofollow>http://www.stthomas.edu/tommies/MBB/stats/2-25-mbb.htm">see box score here