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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Jack Thompson has had a long, decorated career as the point guard for the Sioux Falls men's basketball team, and he's not ready for it to be over.

With the Cougars' first-round NSIC Tournament game hanging in the balance on Wednesday night at the Stewart Center, the fifth-year senior from Eagan took over in the final minutes and sent USF on to the second round and the Sanford Pentagon with a coast-to-coast buzzer-beater that lifted USF to a 68-66 win over Bemidji State.

The Cougars entered the tournament on a five-game losing streak, and they found themselves trailing 22-6 in the early stages of the game on Wednesday. It looked like maybe the Cougars were ready to call it a winter. Thompson had other ideas, and when his layup fell through the net as the buzzer sounded, the USF students that filled the bleachers behind both baskets burst onto the court and mobbed Thompson, an apporpriate reward for one of the more memorable moments in recent USF hoops history.

When asked where it ranked among his own personal milestones, Thompson answered: "It's got to be No. 1. I wasn't ready to be done yet, so it's got to be way up there for sure. Going down the stretch, it's your last game in your home gym, it's definitely in the back of your mind that you don't want to be done playing."

Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live

After Thompson hit a 3-pointer to give USF a 66-62 lead, the Beavers answered with four straight points, the last two coming on a pair of free throws with eight seconds left in the game. USF had a timeout left, but coach Chris Johnson didn't want to let the Beavers set up their defense. Also, he trusted his senior point guard.

"Why don't you call a timeout there?" Johnson asked rhetorically. "Because No. 2 had the ball. Worst-case scenario, we've got 10 seconds and five minutes in our own gym to win a game. And best-case scenario, we can throw it in to (Thompson) and he can go and make a play, and that's what he did."

Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live

The slow start, Thompson and Johnson both said, wasn't due to the Cougars coming out flat or lacking effort or intensity. They just couldn't get shots to go. That made it easier to stay engaged, and they went on a 26-6 run of their own to retake the lead by halftime. But Johnson thought that comeback left his team exhausted, and they found themselves down by six midway through the second.

"We had some good really good looks and missed them," Thompson said. "Maybe a little bit of nerves from guys who haven't been in this situation before. But we got settled in and played more the style we wanted to."

Thompson had 13 points and six assists for the Cougars, while Noah Puetz had 16 points and Shawn Warrior 15.

Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live

USF (13-16, 9-13 NSIC) shot 44% and was outrebounded 40-30 by the Beavers. Bemidji State (13-16, 9-13 NSIC) outscored USF 14-5 at the line but made just 14-of-27 from the stripe. Dalton Albrecht had 23 points and 13 rebounds, and John Sutherland had 16 points and 10 boards. Tate Olson added 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Cougars also got an assist from their football team — a couple dozen of them sat behind one basket and impacted the game by heckling the Beavers and giving energy to the Cougars' players on both ends of the court. It made for what Johnson called one of the energetic home games in recent years.

"It's really fun when you've been playing the way we've been playing," Johnson said. "I mean, we'd lost five in a row, didn't have a lot of confidence, and we had a lot of games where we were right there and didn't get it done. Then you get down 22-6 to start the game, I mean, that can go two different ways. I was really proud of our guys for fighting back.

"We needed to find a way to win tonight. And there's nothing better than the last (home game) of Jack Thompson's career, with what he's meant to us, to make a shot like that. That'll be a cool memory for him and for me, too."

Matt Zimmer/Sioux Falls Live

With the win, USF will face league champion Minnesota State, the No. 3-ranked team in Division II. The Mavericks are 26-2, with two wins over USF that were both competitive games. That game tips off on Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

"House money, man," Johnson said. "They beat us by five here last time and we were ahead with two minutes left. If we play really well, we'll be in the game. If we don't ... I mean, they're the No. 3 team in the nation. Our guys just want to keep playing. We have a lot of new guys that have never been to the Pentagon. Just to get to have a chance to have a positive moment like this after the three weeks we've had is huge."

Sioux Falls 68, Bemidji State 66

BSU 34 32 — 66

USF 37 31 — 68

BEMIDJI STATE — Albrecht 23, Sutherland 16, Olson 12, Williams 10, Tennyson 3, Davis 2. Totals: 23-53 FGs, 6-16 3-pt. FGs, 14-27 FTs.

SIOUX FALLS — Puetz 16, Warrior 15, Thompson 13, Morisch 7, Scales 6, Ingwerson 5, Kettner 4, Alm 2. Totals: 28-61 FGs, 7-23 3-pt. FGs, 5-7 FTs.