University of St. Thomas Athletics
23-3
Gustavus Adolphus
16-11
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 1 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GAC | 28 | 41 | 10 | 79 |
| St. Thomas | 38 | 31 | 14 | 83 |
Marcus' magic: Men's Hoops storms back to playoff title game
2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By DOUG HENNES
It was no surprise to avid men's basketball fans that St. Thomas and Gustavus would square off Friday night in the conference playoffs. Been there, done that – and a lot.
The schools have been the MIAC's marquee teams since the playoffs began in 1985, with St. Thomas winning 12 titles and Gustavus nine after the two teams had won or shared 20 regular-season championships.
The Gusties held a 7-5 edge over St. Thomas in playoff games, although the Tommies had won four in a row, including an overtime thriller three years ago.
Make that five in a row and another overtime thriller. No. 6-ranked St. Thomas (23-3) defeated Gustavus 83-79 before a nearly full Schoenecker Arena to advance to the championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday against Bethel, a 75-67 road winner over St. Olaf.
It will be the Tommies' 10th trip to the finals in 11 years, and they will be gunning for their eighth title in that span.
St. Thomas coach John Tauer has been around for most of the playoff battles with Gustavus (16-11) going back to his days as a player and assistant coach, and he relished the opportunity to play the Gusties for a third time this year. The teams split during the regular season.
"I am incredibly proud of you," Tauer told his players in the locker room after the game. "You guys really battled and hung in there. In the last two minutes of regulation when we were behind, I could tell by the look in your eyes that you believed in each other."
For the third time in the last five games, the Tommies blew a double-digit lead in the second half and fell behind by four points, 69-65, with 2:45 to go. But they held Gustavus scoreless the rest of regulation and came up with a little magic in the final seconds to force overtime.
Trailing 69-66 after Gustavus missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw with 31 seconds to go, junior forward Taylor Montero made a free throw to cut the deficit to two points. He missed the second free throw but senior center Conner Nord grabbed the rebound with 12 seconds remaining and Tauer called timeout.
Sophomore guard Grant Shaeffer drove into the lane but missed a short jumper, and Nord – or maybe it was Montero? – got his hand on the ball and tipped it out to Marcus Alipate. The senior guard drilled a shot from 15 feet with 1.3 seconds to send the game into overtime.
"I was just trying to get into position in case there was a rebound so I could catch and shoot," said Alipate, who finished with 20 points, as did Shaeffer. "The ball popped out to where I was and I just let it go."
St. Thomas took a five-point lead less than a minute into overtime on an Alipate three-point play – a layup and free throw after Gustavus' top scorer, Gary Cooper, fouled out with 23 points – and a Shaeffer jumper.
But the Gusties wouldn't fold. They made four three throws to climb to within 74-73. Two more free throws closed the gap to 76-75 before the Tommies put the game away with a Montero free throw, a Nord layup on a perfect Alipate pass and two Cortez Tillman free throws.
Gustavus trailed 38-28 at half but got back into the game thanks to 64 percent shooting in the second half. The Tommies stiffened down the stretch and the Gusties went 0 for 9 from the field in the last 3:39 of regulation and all five minutes of overtime, scoring their final 10 points from the free throw line.
Tauer praised his players' iron-man performance, especially with junior forward Ryan Saarela out for the second straight game with an injury. Montero played 40 of 45 minutes, followed by Nord (39), Shaeffer(38), Alipate (35) and Tillman (33).
"The guys didn't feel sorry for themselves with Ryan out," Tauer said. "It was fun to see guys step up and take on the extra load."
Bethel tops St. Olaf for third time
Sunday's championship game will be the season's rubber match between St. Thomas and Bethel. The Tommies won at Bethel 80-69 last month and the Royals rallied from 14 points down with less than 10 minutes left to win 71-65 in overtime on Feb. 18.
Bethel (19-8) also came back against St. Olaf in Friday night's other semifinal to beat the Oles for the third time this year. The Royals trailed by two at halftime and four early in the second half.
PHOTO: Tommie students erupt after Marcus Alipate tying basket with :01.5 seconds left. (Haley Staffon photo)
