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Forward Noah Kaiser isn’t known for his perimeter shooting. He’d only made five 3-pointers on the season coming into Saturday’s game, but no 3-pointer will be as important as his sixth.

Kaiser’s tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1:13 remaining pushed the No. 1-ranked St. Thomas men’s basketball team to its third Elite Eight appearance in five years after defeating No. 12 Calvin (Mich.) 63-62 in front of a capacity crowd at Schoenecker Arena Saturday night.

Kaiser, who finished with nine points, said the go-ahead shot felt good, but said he wasn’t sure it was going to find the net.

“I actually thought I missed it,” Kaiser said. “I took the ball on a skip pass, and I knew the defense was going to go with Will (DeBerg). It was my turn. I had to let it fly and luckily it dropped for us tonight.”

On the Knights’ (26-4) last true possession, guard Bryan Powell’s missed 16-foot jumper off the front iron was corralled by guard Zach Riedeman to send the Tommies to the Elite Eight. Calvin had one last possession, but its full-court heave hit the scoreboard hanging over the court, turning the ball over for the last time.

“Once the ball hit the scoreboard we knew we had it,” guard Will DeBerg said after playing in his last game at Steve Fritz Court. “It was a great feeling.”

For the seniors, it capped off an undefeated, 17-0 home record on the season.

“For it being the last home game for me and the other seniors, it’s unbelievable to go out like that,” DeBerg said. “That’s probably the most fun I’ve had at a game here.”

The win advances the Tommies to Salem, Va., for its first Elite Eight appearance since 2011, the year St. Thomas won the national title. There it will face No. 8 Williams College (Mass.), who skipped by Virginia Wesleyan 84-75 on its home court Saturday.

Coach John Tauer told his team Calvin was one of the “toughest teams in the country” before going on the floor Saturday night.

“I am very proud of how our guys were resilient throughout,” Tauer said. “Their trust in one another is a key to our success.”

The Knights kept pace with the one-loss Tommies throughout the game and held the lead on numerous occasions. Whenever one team seemed to have the edge, the other would go on a run of its own.

Calvin started the runs on the night, posting its largest lead of the game straight out of the gate at 7-0. The Tommies fought back behind strong outside shooting from DeBerg, who pulled St. Thomas level 9-9 midway through the first half.

DeBerg said his early, hot shooting was a key to keeping up with the versatile Knights.

“I kind of got in a groove, and my teammates did a good job finding me,” DeBerg said. He finished with a team-high 16 points.

St. Thomas did not take its first lead until the 11:34 mark of the first half off a Kaiser jumper from the wing. The Knights and Tommies battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the half with a 4-0 run by Kaiser to end the half, giving the Tommies a 31-26 lead at the break.

Like Calvin in the first half, St. Thomas used a strong opening five minutes of the second half to build a 15-point lead. DeBerg started to get hot, hitting two 3-pointers from two-feet behind the arc, pushing the Tommies to their largest lead of the game.

But the Knights responded with a 11-0 run by Powell midway through the second frame, pulling Calvin to within three at 43-40.

St. Thomas then received the a pivotal four-point possession in dramatic fashion. Following center Conner Nord’s free-throw miss, guard Marcus Alipate grabbed the ball and canned a arena-shaking 3-pointer while being fouled. He hit the free throw, giving the Tommies an 48-40 advantage.

The Knights continued their pursuit and pulled within one, 54-53, on a Powell layup. On the ensuing in-bounds pass, Calvin guard Tom Snikkers stole the ball and laid it in for the uncontested two, putting the Knights up 55-54 with 5:22 to go.

Although trailing, DeBerg said the team remained calm down the stretch.

“We weren’t that nervous,” DeBerg said with a grin. “I was confident in my teammates, and I knew we were going to win.”

St. Thomas battled back once again, holding a five-point lead with 3:11 left. But even this lead was not safe. Powell canned an NBA-range three and forward Tyler Dykstra’s one-handed slam, pulled the Knights and Tommies level at 60 with 1:36 left.

Kaiser drained the deep 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to give the Tommies the three-point lead with a minute remaining. After two made free throws by Calvin, St. Thomas couldn’t convert on a last-shot attempt, giving the Knights the last possession of the game and 20 seconds to work with.

Everyone in the gym knew the ball would be in Powell’s hands and Tengwall’s defense forced a tough 15-foot jump shot that was off the mark, sealing the Knights’ fate.

“Powell was their go-to guy,” Tengwall said on his late-game defending. “You’ve got your whole team behind you, which made me confident. Fortunately for us, he missed the shot.”

Powell finished with a game-high 31 points.

Alipate and guard John Nance each chipped in eight points each. The Tommies shot 52.4 percent from the floor while holding Calvin to 47.2 percent. St. Thomas shot 50 percent from behind the arc.

The Tommies are finding different ways to win games. St. Thomas won on a night where it shot 40.9 percent (9-22) from the line and turned the ball over 15 times.

Against a good Williams squad, St. Thomas knows it must be better.

“We were 9-22 from the free-throw line, which is horrible,” Tengwall said. “Turnovers are also a problem, but we’ll clean those up and be ready for Williams come Friday.”

Ross Schreck can be reached at schr8250@stthomas.edu.