St. Thomas men's basketball saw a 14-point lead -- and its its NCAA championship hopes -- slip away in Saturday night's 74-67 loss to Mary Hardin-Baylor in the NCAA playoff semifinal round in Salem, Va.

The unranked Crusaders (27-5) earned a trip to the April 7 NCAA title game, overcoming first-half foul trouble and 36 percent shooting on the game.

They closed the game on a 24-7 run over the last 6:31, including 8-of-8 free throws in the final 21 seconds. The Tommies had regained the lead 67-66 on Will DeBerg's basket with 38 seconds to go.

DeBerg scored 21 points and Tommy Hannon had 15 points and 15 rebounds, but UST (30-2) had 17 turnovers and missed several shots down the stretch.

MHB scored on 17 of its last 22 possessions, including a rare four-point play and another two on a putback dunk after two missed free throws. The Toms were outscored 27-17 at the foul line. The Crusaders made 16 of 19 at the line in the final 10:00.

James Allen, scoreless in Friday's semifinal win, had 19 points for the Crusaders, including the tying and go-ahead free throws with 21 seconds left. Layton Zinsmeister had 14 points off then bench, including 9-of-9 at the foul line and a huge trey with 1:44 to go to regain the lead at 66-64.

No. 1-ranked UST, which had a 14-game win streak halted, led 38-33 at halftime and built the lead to 14 midway through the second half. But as the Tommie offense stalled, the Crusaders heated up from 3-point range and got to the foul line.

St. Thomas had the ball, down one with 21 seconds left, but turned it over in its half of the court with 13 seconds left. MHB was fouled and Thomas Orr made two free throws to push the lead to 70-67. Noah Kaiser's 3-point try to tie with :06 left was in and out, and a UST foul on the rebound led to two more Orr free throws with :05 to go. A desperation pass went out of bounds and another foul was cashed in with two free throws by the Crusaders with :02 to play.

St. Thomas finished with 30 wins for the third time in five seasons. The seniors were part of 105 victories the last four seasons.