Late 10-0 run fuels Wed. men's basketball win

February 14, 2001
Wed. Feb. 14, 2001

MIAC Men's Basketball/at St. Thomas


Univ. of St. Thomas 71
Carleton College 63


Late 10-0 run carries Tommie men

Sophomore forward Kevin Fitzgerald made 4-of-4 free throws and had a slam dunk in the final 28 seconds to cap a 10-0, game-ending run as host St. Thomas (19-5 overall, 15-5 MIAC) escaped with a 71-63 win over Carleton (8-14, 6-12) in MIAC men's basketball Wednesday night in Schoenecker Arena.

The Toms, who have won 12 of their last 14 games, are assured of a top-four seed for next week's MIAC playoffs. Their bid for a No. 2 seed was diminished Wednesday as Bethel (14-5) and Gustavus (15-4) each won.

Mychal Brenden scored 25 points, Mark Buri had 20 points and four steals, and Fitzgerald scored 14 for the Toms, who rallied from an early 15-2 deficit to lead 36-33 at halftime. The Toms never led by more than four points until the closing seconds.

Carleton sank 10-of-24 from 3-point range as Steve Knutson scored 17 points (5-of-7 threes) and Jeff Jensen added 15 points (3-of-8 threes). Scott Christensen added 13 points and five assists and Steve Nuessle added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Knights.

Knutson hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Knights a 61-59 lead with 4:16 left, but Carleton didn't make a field goal thereafter. Christensen sank two free throws with 2:13 to play for a 63-61 lead, but Buri answered with two free throws with 1:58 to go for a 63-63 tie. Brenden's driving layup with 56 seconds left gave the Toms the lead at 65-63. Buri missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation with 30 seconds to go, but Fitzgerald grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He sank two in the 1-and-1 situation for a 67-63 lead, then made two more with 19 seconds left. His slam dunk with :03 to play closed the scoring.

see box score here