Marcus Alipate scored 20 points, including a tying 14-foot jumper with 1.5 seconds left, and host St. Thomas went on to beat Gustavus Adolphus 83-79 in overtime in a MIAC men's basketball semifinal Friday night in St. Paul.
The top-seeded Tommies (23-3) advanced to the conference championship game Sunday against fourth-seeded Bethel, which also will be held at Schoenecker Arena.
Grant Shaeffer scored 14 of his 20 points after halftime for St. Thomas, which led by 10 at the break but trailed by four with less than two minutes to go in regulation.
With Gustavus (16-11) leading 69-66, St. Thomas' Taylor Montero drew a foul with 16 seconds to go. He made the first free throw and deliberately missed the second. Conner Nord scrambled for the offensive rebound. The Tommies missed one shot, but Nord again got the rebound and flicked the ball to Alipate, who hit a fadeaway shot as he fell to the floor.
Alipate then started St. Thomas off right in the extra session with a three-point play after he was fouled on a layup. Shaeffer followed with a jumper for a quick five-point lead and the Tommies never trailed from there.
Gary Cooper scored 23 points to lead the Gusties.
Bethel 75, St. Olaf 67: Kyle Zimmermann had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Royals (19-8) beat the host Oles (21-5) for the third time this season.
The Oles led by as many as 10 in the first half, but Bethel went on a 14-4 run to tie the score 33-33. The Royals used a 10-2 run to break a 43-43 tie and the Oles never regained the lead. St. Olaf was led by Ben Figini, who had a season-best 31 points on 15-of-20 shooting.
