Senior guard Marcus Alipate scored 20 points, including a 14-foot shot with :03 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, and host St. Thomas went on to win 83-79 in overtime in Friday's MIAC men's basketball semifinal game at Schoenecker Arena.
The No. 6-ranked and top-seeded Tommies (23-3) advance to the conference championship game Sunday at home against fourth-seed Bethel, which won on the road Friday at second-seed St. Olaf.
It's the 10th playoff title game in the last 11 seasons for St. Thomas. UST shot 49 percent, made 23-of-29 at the foul line, and had only nine turnovers. Grant Shaeffer scored 14 of his 20 points after halftime.
Gustavus (16-11) had just six turnovers and made 19-of-22 free throws but saw its season end. Gary Cooper had a game-high 23 points to lead the Gusties.
UST trailed 69-66 after a turnover in the final 50 seconds. It fouled with 31 seconds left. Gustavus missed a 1-and-1 chance, and UST came down and drew a foul with 16 seconds to go. Taylor Montero made the first try to make it 69-67 but missed the second by design, and Conner Nord pulled away the offensive rebound. After a timeout, the Toms missed a potential tying jumper with :07 to go, but Nord flicked the rebound out to Alipate, and his fading shot as he fell to the court got all net with 1.5 second to go.
Gustavus didn't get a desperation shot after an inbounds play, and the game went to overtime.
Alipate drove and scored a basket and was fouled on the first play of OT. Cooper fouled out on the play, and UST converted the free throw for a 72-69 lead and never trailed. Nord's layup with 55 seconds to go pushed the lead to four, and Cortez Tillman later made two free throws for a six-point cushion.
The Gusties made all 10 free throws in overtime but went 0-for-6 from the floor. Their last made field goal of the night came with 3:35 left in regulation.
Nord finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Tillman scored 14 points. The teams deadlocked in rebounds, 34-34.
UST moved to 13-1 at home this season, the lone loss 10 days earlier in overtime against Bethel. St. Thomas is 17-1 in postseason on-campus games over the last eight seasons.