Senior guard Dominic Bledsoe, who leads Division III men's basketball in minutes played, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give No. 5 seed St. Olaf a 76-73 victory over Gustavus in the MIAC men's basketball quarterfinals on Wednesday in St. Peter, Minn.
Top two MIAC men's basketball seeds win; St. Olaf, Macalester also advance
February 24, 2022 at 1:36PM
Conor Martin led St. Olaf with 28 points while Nathan Handler added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Oles, who will play at No. 1 seed St. John's on Friday night. The Johnnies defeated No. 8 seed Hamline 74-53 in Collegeville behind sophomore forward Ryan Thissen's 11-for-15 shooting on a 24-point night.
The other semifinal will match No. 2 seed Augsburg against No. 6 Macalester.
The Auggies broke open a close game in the second half to defeat Bethel 82-66, with five players reaching double figures. Will Schmidt came off the bench to score 17 for Augsburg, Bethel led 54-52 with 14 minutes to play before Augsburg went on a 13-2 run to break open the game.
Macalester, who had lost to Carleton twice during the regular season, jumped to a 40-18 halftime lead at Carleton, holding the Knights to only one field goal in the final 11 minutes of the half. Freshman Coby Gold led the Scots with 21 points, including 6-of-7 on three-pointers, and senior guard Gabriel Ramos had 15 points and 14 rebounds.
MIAC women's quarterfinals
The top four seeds advanced to the conference women's semifinals with victory on Wednesday, all of them turning in double-digit victories.
Top-seed Augsburg reached the semifinals for the third straight season with a 67-45 victory over St. Olaf in Minneapolis behind Jen Masello's 20 points and 13 from Selena Lor. The Auggies will play Hamline, which won its first-ever MIAC postseason game with a 78-61 victory over St. Benedict. Lydia Lecher scored 22 points, hitting 8 of 16 shots from the field for the Pipers.
Emma Kniefel scored a game-high 18 points as No. 2 seed Gustavus reached the semis for the sixth straight year with a 53-41 victory over Concordia-Moorhead. The Gusties will play defending tournament champion Bethel, which built a 41-19 halftime lead and went on to beat Carleton 71-59 in Arden Hills. Kat Brown-Erdal came off the bench to lead the Royals with 17 points.
Winners of the conference tournaments will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Two offensive linemen from Lakeville, Bryce Benhart and Riley Mahlman, are standouts for Big Ten rivals of Minnesota.
