DE PERE, Wis. – Porter Morrell hit a long 3-point shot at the buzzer to lead unranked Northwestern-St. Paul to a 71-70 over St. Thomas in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs Friday night at St. Norbert College.
The No. 3-ranked Tommies (25-3) took a two-point lead on sophomore guard Grant Shaeffer's layup with six seconds to go, but the Eagles moved quickly down court and Morrell's shot from past the top of the key hit all net.
Five players scored in double figures for the Tommies, led by junior center Ryan Saarela's 15. Seniors Conner Nord and Marcus Alipate ended their St. Thomas careers with 13 and 12 points, respectively, and Alipate finished with 1,007 points. Cortez Tillman and Taylor Montero each had 10.
The game featured eight ties, including seven in the second half. The Tommies built their biggest lead at 62-57 but Northwestern scored six in a row to reclaim the lead. The remainder of the game seesawed back and forth, with Northwestern making two 3-pointers in the last 13 seconds.
Northwestern jumped ahead 25-14 midway through the first half by hitting 11 of its first 14 shots before the Tommies went on 14-2 run over the next six minutes to take their first lead at 28-27. The Eagles missed nine straight shots during that span but still held a 34-32 lead at halftime.