Carleton missed five free throws in the final 15.9 seconds to allow host St. Thomas to sneak away with a 58-55 win Saturday.

Carleton outplayed St. Thomas for much of the game but shot nine for 24 from the free-throw line. Jeremy Sutherland led the Knights with 16 points, while the Tommies were led by 13 points from Alex Healy to come back from a six-point halftime deficit.

“We got lucky today,” sophomore Tommy Hannon said. “It won’t happen again.”

Carleton was physical in the first half, coupling solid three-point shooting with offensive rebounding to hold the lead over St. Thomas. The Knights also made easy buckets hard to come by, forcing the Tommies into jump shots throughout the half. Carleton led by as many as 12 points with 3:50 to play, but a 6-0 run to close out the half gave St. Thomas some momentum going into the break.

“They lulled us to sleep a little [in the first half],” Hannon said. “We came out with a lot more energy [in the second half].”

St. Thomas started the second half strong, capturing the lead for the first time in the game on a 3-pointer by junior Tyler Nicolai with 15:05 to play. The Tommies rode out foul trouble through the second half, giving the Knights bonus free throws for the last 12:25.

In the end, it was missed free throws that had Carleton walking out of the gym with a missed opportunity to beat the defending conference champions. Both teams seemed determined to give the game away, with a combined seven free throws missed before Nicolai made two with three seconds remaining to close the game.

“Everybody loves playing games that come down to the wire,” senior Sam Eicher said.

St. Thomas clinched a MIAC playoff berth with Saturday’s win as it moved to 15-1 in conference play with four games remaining. The Tommies play next at 7:30 p.m Wednesday against Bethel.

Jordan Osterman can be reached at jrosterman@stthomas.edu.