Tommie men's basketball appeared headed for its first defeat Monday night in Mankato against a scrappy Bethany Lutheran team. Trailing 76-71 with nine seconds left in regulation, St. Thomas made two clutch shots to force overtime and held off the stubborn Vikings 94-91.

Noah Kaiser's layup with four seconds left pulled UST within 76-73, and a turnover gave UST a chance with 2.6 seconds left. Will DeBerg caught a cross-court inbounds pass and drained a 3-point basket at the buzzer as he fell away from the basket. That tied the game 76-76.

DeBerg and Erik Tengwall sank 8-of-8 free throws in the last 40 seconds of overtime to help the Tommies hold on. DeBerg, held to five point in the game's first 39:59, scored the tying basket and 10 points in overtime for a team-high 19 points; Noah Kaiser had 11 points and eight assists; John Nance and Tengwall each scored 13 points, Tommy Hannon scored 11 and Conner Nord had nine.

No. 5-ranked St. Thomas (8-0), which shot 52%, won its sixth road game of the season but it wasn't easy. The Vikings (2-6) shot 60 percent from the field and made several free throws in the game's final five minutes to forge ahead. Alex Weldon had a game-high 24 points for the Vikings.

The Toms return to competition Dec. 21 at home against No. 7-ranked UW-Stevens Point.